Welcome to the Club

One step ahead of the devil…
One step ahead of the man…
You're one step ahead of evil
And you can only run as far as you can.

One Step Ahead of the Devil, Blue Oyster Cult

Sam drove the Impala straight through the center of the quad, knowing full well that, had they not been running from this crazy cult, Dean would never forgive him for driving his precious car over sidewalk and courtyard. Given their current situation, he felt he was justified.

He had just maneuvered the car between the North and East buildings when he saw Dean and Kole struggling out of a South Hall door. Coming around the opposite side of the building, were a few men in robes and the wanna-be cultists, the boys who had dressed themselves all in black. Sam had just come to a stop as Dean yanked open the back door, tossed a couple bags in, and both he and Kole fell into the backseat. Dean had only enough time to pull his feet inside when Sam hit the gas again, causing the door to swing itself shut.

"What the…" Sam muttered, nearly hitting the on-coming students who were throwing themselves in front of the car. He swerved and the rear wheels slithered back and forth as he tried to steer around people and buildings. By the time they reached the state route again, Sam's knuckles were colorless as he gripped the steering wheel.

Dean, who had been thrown to the floor of the backseat, surveyed the bloody handprints marring the otherwise spotless interior. He eased himself back onto the seat, took a deep breath, and looked at Kole to try and assess the damages.

Somehow, she was managing to exhibit a number of reactions all at once. She looked bewildered, like she could pass out, and as if she was going to be sick. She felt Dean looking at her and forced herself to take in as much air as her lungs would allow then let it out slowly. She repeated the process a couple of times then sat back in the seat, put her head back, and closed her eyes.

"Kole?" Dean said quietly and put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you need to stay awake, OK? At least until we make sure you don't have a concussion or something."

"Concussion?" Sam asked from the front seat as he glanced in the rearview mirror at his passengers. "Do you need a hospital?" he asked before he was able to think. Without looking, he knew Dean was glaring at the back of his head.

"No," Kole told him, opening her eyes and sitting up straighter. "Not around here anyway. I'd just like to put as much distance between me and this town… as quick… as…" her words trailed off as she closed her eyes again.

"Kole!" Dean said, shaking her shoulder. Her eyes flew open again and he said, "Come on you can't go to sleep."

"Dean," Sam pleaded from the front seat, "we need to stop so we can get those cuts bandaged up."

"I know, I know," Dean was getting agitated. He rolled his neck around and heard a satisfying pop, pop, pop. "OK," he said, forcing himself to be more composed, "first big town, first hotel you see that you've actually heard of. That's where we stop. And you," he turned to Kole, "you need to keep talking to me. You need to stay awake Kole. Tell me, how'd you get a name like 'Kole' anyway?"

"It's Maura," she smiled and looked at Dean lethargically.

"Maura?" he asked, confused. He looked at the rearview mirror, seeing Sam's anxious eyes and feeling the Impala pick up speed. "How do you get 'Kole' from 'Maura'?"

She let out an amused breath and leaned forward. She took off her socks, cold and wet from running through the snowy grass without shoes. She turned them inside out as she pulled her legs up to sit cross-legged, feet underneath her.

"It's Maura Nikole," she told him, seeming to have gained some strength from the movement. She attempted to tie the first sock around the gash on her right hand but had trouble. Dean, realizing what she was doing, pulled her hand over and tied it for her as she continued to speak.

"My mother had the name picked out for me as soon as she found out she was pregnant. Or so she said, but she tended to get a little quixotic about those sorts of things." She let out a gasp when Dean pulled the knot of her left hand too tight.

"Sorry," he said bashfully. "Quick…" but he decided not to ask about the word. Instead, he cleared his throat and said, "So, Maura Nikole, that's nice."

"Well," she smiled, "I guess she decided to give me her last name rather than my father's when I was born, only realizing later how silly Maura Marten sounded. But, she had already fallen in love with the name and didn't want to change it, so she settled on calling me by my middle name. And, after she died, I shortened it."

She said it so matter-of-factly that Sam had to look at her through the mirror again to see the look on her face. He didn't remember his own mother and might have talked about her death in the same manner, but Dean never did. Dean was four and could remember her. Her death meant more to him and he would never just talk about it as if it were a simple occurrence. And Sam was surprised that Kole, who was six when her mother died, could.

"Hey Sammy," Dean's voice interrupted the thought, "what about up there?"

Sam looked in the direction that Dean was pointing. The sign on the side of the highway listed five different motels, all of which were chains.

"I think we're far enough away for tonight," Dean told them. "We can start moving again in the morning."

Sam was chosen to check them into the motel, as he was the only one that didn't have blood all over him. He drove to the back of the building, making sure to park the car where it could not be seen from the street.

"OK," Sam said when they got out of the car, "we're in 24 and Kole's in 26."

"Two rooms?" Dean asked.

"Well," Sam looked at him awkwardly, "yeah. They connect, though."

Sam grabbed his and Dean's duffle bags from the trunk and brought them into their room, along with their first aid kit. Then, he grabbed Kole's case and backpack from the backseat where Dean had tossed them. He walked into Kole's room through the connecting door just as Dean was finishing his examination.

"Well," Dean was saying, "you never lost consciousness, never threw up. Your eyes look fine, since you said they always have those brown spots in them. You don't seem confused and can use words like quick… quick…"

"Quixotic," Sam said with a smile, which was shared with Kole.

"OK, OK," Dean muttered uncomfortably, "just one more test to see if you're all right. What, in your opinion, is the best song ever?" Sam rolled his eyes.

"Oh," Kole said with a little enthusiasm, "that's easy. It's 'The Greatest Love of All'."

It was all Sam could do not to laugh at the look on Dean's face. His eyes grew wide in horror and his chin dropped to his chest. When he started sputtering incomprehensible phrase, Kole laughed.

"So, you're not much of a Whitney fan either, huh? To be honest, I would have to say one of my all-time favorite songs would be 'Paint it Black'."

"The Stones, huh?" Dean said after collecting himself.

"Yeah," she smiled. "Now do I pass Dr. Winchester?"