Tandy slipped through the crowd, weaving her way amongst the smoke and chaos, searching for Cadence's sleek and undoubtedly leather-bound form. The complete and utter absence of her best friend over the past few weeks had began to gnaw at her from the inside out, leaving her wired and overly anxious. She needed this; a break from all the madness. Her brain was dead-weight at this point, depleted by endless hours of research and her heart was holding its breath, waiting for Cupid to release his choke hold, suspended between feelings of both excitement and trepidation. She was tired, lost, confused. A part from feeling like she may have acted a little hastily with Dean, she needed the reminder that the overwhelming sense of dread that she felt, staring down the barrel of Baron Samedi's smoking gun, was worth it; that there were still people in this world that were there to protect, that were worth fighting for.
She needed her friend.
She'd left Cadence a puke-inducing voice message that morning and had stooped to a new low; grovelling. She couldn't describe the overwhelming sense of relief that she had felt when Cadence had called her back and accepted her offer for dinner and drinks, even if it was only for the promise of introducing her to the elusive 'Brothers Grimm', as Cadence had dubbed them, or more accurately, Sam. Tandy had mindfully left out the part about his brother, Dean, and the fact that she was sort of seeing him. Was she seeing him? They hadn't exactly made it exclusive. Beyond the few kisses that they had shared the previous night, they hadn't had the chance to delve further into the details of their budding relationship, much less the 'what now'. Regardless, she was hoping to gain a simple, plain vanilla perspective on the matter. It would also come as a welcome distraction from the looming threat of total, biblical annihilation that they were all facing.
Tandy felt Dean's eyes watch her as she crossed the bar, having left he and Sam in a booth so that she could go looking for her friend, and became incredibly self-conscious. Between investigating ways to stop the apocalypse and casting knowing glances at Dean when Sam wasn't looking, she wasn't left with much time to put an outfit together. In the end, she'd resorted to wearing dark, denim jeans that were ripped when she bought them, white Converse sneakers and a high-cut racer tank, conscious of the fact that plaid was completely out of the question.
She sighed and swept her gaze across the room once more. At least she had managed to straighten her otherwise tousled hair and apply a light layer of make-up. Admittedly, she didn't need make-up, but, nevertheless, it had helped her to hide the fact that she hadn't slept much in the past forty-eight hours.
"Well, shit, you sure clean up pretty when you want to, hey, Kinsella."
Tandy turned; her eyes enkindled, like burning, blue flames and she smiled. "Cay, I'm so glad you came. I've been such a shitty friend." She confessed, opening her arms to the Creole beauty.
"Well, you have been slimier than a bucket'a worm spit." Cadence concurred, accepting her sheepish embrace. "But since when have I ever been one to pass up drinks with my girl? I'm glad you called me, I missed ya." She chirped, smiling radiantly and Tandy avowed, from that moment on, to be a better friend, a friend deserving of Cadence LeFleur.
"So, where's this hunk of a man you were talkin' 'bout at? I'm done with chasin' Tommy. That boy clearly don't know a good thing when he sees it." Cadence said, fluffing her hair; an image of carnal sin. Whereas Tandy was sunbeams and lemonade on a cloudless day, Cadence was smoke and shadows on a hot, wet night. Despite their differences in almost every possible way, there was no denying the immense bond that the two shared. They were family. They were sisters. But Cadence was a proud woman. It was part of the reason Tandy loved her so much, but it bordered on vanity and was also the reason that Tommy didn't. For good reason though, it made her incredibly self-assured. In any case, she wouldn't have sold Sam to her if she didn't think that he couldn't handle it. Baby Winchester could be full of surprises after all.
"Follow me." Tandy grinned, leading Cadence away from the pandemonium and towards the back booths, where the air was thinner and The Joker played softly in the background.
"Cay, these are my friends, Dean and Sam Winchester. Boys, this is my numero uno, Cadence LeFleur." Tandy beamed, introducing them.
"Numero uno?" Cadence questioned, placing her hands on her rounded hips. "I like that." She then turned her almond-shaped eyes on the Winchester's and hit them with a thousand watt grin. "Howdy, boys."
Dean smirked and offered Cadence his hand, undisturbed by a confident woman, and she took it. "A pleasure." He drawled.
"Oh, hon, the pleasure is all mine." She meowled.
Tandy rolled her eyes, accustomed to Cadence' overzealous nature and slid into the seat beside Sam, opposite Dean.
In the car, Sam had complained about being dragged out, spur of the moment, for drinks no less, when they were mere seals away from meeting their doom, but judging by the look on his face now, it seemed that he was glad that he had come.
"You must be Sam." Cadence observed, offering the youngest Winchester a thorough once-over. "Well, damn, Tandy wasn't wrong." She breathed, appreciative, and Sam's cheeks took on a pinkish hue.
"Oh?" Dean asked, curious. His gaze shot past Cadence and found its mark. He cocked his eyebrow and lent back into the red leather seat, folding his arms over his chest as he did so.
Tandy gulped; the look on her face was almost punishable, and judging by Dean's expression, he wanted to do just that. Even the heat could not suppress the cold shiver that rippled down her spine.
"Someone looks a little green." Cadence whispered lightly, falling into place beside the pouty hunter.
"I'm not green." Dean stated evenly. "Just thirsty."
"Well, damn, you'n me both!" Cadence exclaimed, springing to her feet. "I'll get us the first round!"
"Woah, woah, woah, hold it!" Sam chimed in, having finally managed to pick his jaw up off of the floor. "I'm not going to let a lady pay for our drinks." He explained, making a move to collect his wallet.
Cadence reached across the table and placed her lacquered fingertips on his forearm. "Oh, sugar, who said I was payin'?" She winked, devilish.
Caught between the crossfire of their flirtatious tryst, Tandy glanced up, meeting Dean's sullen gaze.
Shoot. He looked as though he had just bitten into a sour lemon. He wasn't really jealous, was he? She didn't think Dean could even get jealous. He was so self-assured; so confident. She had to talk Sam up to Cadence, she had to. She needed to sweeten the pot, and she knew that Cadence had a weakness for tall, modest men. Throw in the dimples and the puppy-dog eyes, and it was a sure thing.
"Let me at least come with you?" Sam offered politely.
"Fabulous idea!" Cadence trilled.
Not a fabulous idea, Tandy thought petulantly, far less eager to be left alone with Dean and his pouty - although downright kissable - mouth.
She shuffled out of the booth to allow Sam to pass her and slipped back into it as Cadence took the youngest Winchester by the hand and led him through the throng of gyrating bodies, towards the bar.
"So, what sort of things did you tell her about my brother exactly?" Dean asked, his voice deep and unnervingly calm.
Tandy toyed with the coaster before her, visibly shrinking beneath the crushing weight of his gaze.
"Just what she would'a wanted to hear." She shrugged, taking on an innocent tone.
"Right." Dean huffed.
Tandy smirked, suddenly feeling a little reckless. "Envy is a sin, y'know."
"Oh trust me, I know." Dean replied. "We sent that bastard back to Hell."
Tandy gasped, her eyes like two small, blue moons. "Wait, seriously?"
"As serious as the spanking you're going to get, missy." Dean responded dangerously, without missing a beat.
Tandy released the coaster and felt her face grow uncomfortably warm. She was glad, in that moment, that she had opted against wearing a jacket. She felt as though she might have burned right through it. "Uh, okay, Fifty Shades." She chuckled softly, despite the fact that Dean didn't appear to be joking.
"Does that make you Anastasia?" Dean asked with a smirk.
"You read the books?" Tandy countered, surprised but also slightly intrigued.
Dean chuckled. "You do some weird things when you only have one year to live, sweetheart." He told her. "Any way, they were tame, in my honest opinion."
Tandy froze, her pulse quickening. "Yikes. You really are Fifty Shades." She murmured.
"Still think you're up for giving this a go?" Dean asked; baiting her, the challenge that he proposed dangling in the air between them like beef on a meat hook.
Tandy grasped it boldly between her metaphorical fingers and squared him with a devious grin. "You of all people should know, Winchester, I don't scare so easily."
"Here we go!" Cadence shrilled, appearing with Sam amidst a cloud of smoke, carting several drinks and a tray full of food in their hands.
Tandy's mouth fell open. "Damn, Cay, what'd you do, order the whole freakin' bar?" She sputtered.
Cadence shrugged and popped a fry into her mouth. "Henry owes me." She mumbled.
"Oh! Burgers!" Dean yipped; a childish grin stealing over his features.
Tandy released a breath. It was astonishing, how Dean could turn from a predatory wolf into a squealing guinea pig, just like that.
"Go pick somethin' from the juke box, Kinsella." Cadence called as she flipped a quarter into the air. Tandy watched the shiny coin soar skywards before it came plummeting down and landed, with unfortunate accuracy, into the condiment cup, splashing bright red sauce all over her tank top.
"Doggone!" Tandy gasped, glancing down at her now soiled shirt.
"Oops. Sorry, babe." Cadence muttered.
Tandy smiled, unabashed and ran a serviette over her chin in an attempt to collect some of the spatter. "Don't sweat it, I keep a spare change'a clothes with me wherever I go, for emergencies." She said.
"And for good reason, too!" Cadence exclaimed, turning her deep, brown eyes on Sam. "Y'know, this girl is the most clumsy-assed thing I ever met!"
"Oh?" Sam inquired, unable to conceal his smirk. "Tell me more."
As Cadence enlightened Sam with an embarrassing tale from their past, Dean took the opportunity to lean across the table and swipe his thumb over a blob of ketchup that had found it's way onto Tandy's cheek. Slowly, he brought it to his lips and lapped his tongue over it. "Mmm. Tasty." He hummed.
Tandy gulped. Dean sure was hotter'n a blister bug in a pepper patch, but boy did he know it.
"I'm uh, I'm gonna go get me a new shirt." Tandy stuttered, flustered. Now she was well and truly melting from the inside out.
"I'll come with you." Dean offered.
"No!" Tandy yelped. She inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly, and managed to calm her tone. "You stay here. Eat." She commanded. "I won't be long."
Dean nodded. A burger was in his hands before Tandy had even managed to maneuver her way past Sam, who was clearly lost in the tale that Cadence was spinning. Well, either that, or he was lost in her eyes. Probably both.
Tandy slipped away, a smile blooming on her face. She gathered her spare shirt from behind the bar - snicked at Henry, who snickered back at her - and made her way towards the bathroom. She tossed her sauce-covered tank to the side and slid the fresh, black camisole over her head, thankful that it was sleeveless given the white-hot way Dean was making her feel. Tandy gripped the door knob and made an attempt to open it when a firm, masculine hand took hold of her forearm. Tandy froze, and it was almost as if every particle in the air around them froze with her. Slowly, her gaze trailed up the length of a trench coat-clad sleeve and into the cold, blue eyes of a grim, yet handsome face.
"Tandy Kinsella." The man's voice was deep and grave, domineering, despite the fact that he had merely uttered her name. It was a voice of power and supremacy. It dared to be challenged, to be disobeyed, and came with the promise of retribution for all those who did.
Tandy swallowed the expanding lump in her throat, feeling suddenly and uncomfortably compliant.
"Can I help you?" She asked, managing to project her voice a little louder than a whisper.
"My name is Castiel." He announced, sepulchral. "I am an angel of the Lord."
Tandy merely stared at him, speechless, her mouth parted slightly in disbelief. The mental image of a pleasant, winged cherub - a baby in a trench coat - that she had conjured in her mind went up in a vortex of smoke and flames.
"You're ... not what I was expectin'." She breathed, before adding, for good measure, "Sir."
"Castiel will suffice." He boomed; a pinnacle of righteousness.
Tandy gulped. "And to what do I owe the pleasure of your company, Cas?"
"I come bearing a warning." Castiel informed her, letting her use of the nickname that Dean had dubbed him slide.
"And what might that be?"
"Sam Winchester is headed down a dangerous road, and we're not sure where it leads." Castiel explained in his sonorous way. "So stop it, or we will."
"We?" Tandy breathed, fearful of his response.
"The entire host of Heaven." He concluded, and with that, he disappearing amidst a flutter of wings.
Even in his departure, his voice still resonated in the air around her.
The entire host of Heaven!
Tandy cupped her chest to make sure that her heart was still beating and felt overwhelmingly sick.
"Jesus, Sam, what have you done?" She muttered, clasping the door handle with a wobbly paw - the silence within the bathroom somehow more deafening than the raucous that awaited her on the other side.
