Welcome to the Club
It's the nexus of the crisis
And the origin of storms
Just the place to hopelessly
Encounter time and then came me
Astronomy, Blue Oyster Cult
Sam got a quick shower to rid himself of the fire fighter smell he had acquired. He didn't realize how smoky his hair smelled until the odor was gone. He dressed in clean clothes, without ash or extinguisher spots on them. He took a deep, clean breath and instantly felt better.
"Kole," Dean called out when he saw Sam emerge from the bathroom, "you ready to go?"
In response, Kole walked into the room. It took Sam a moment to figure out what was different about her. Then, it hit him. She looked the way she did when they first saw her in her classroom. She was wearing one of Dean's long-sleeve T-shirts, covering most of the bandage on her neck. Her hair was brushed back in a loose ponytail and she was wearing her glasses. But, more remarkable was the fact that you could barely see any bruise or scrape on her face.
It's amazing what girls can do with makeup, Sam found himself thinking. A quick glance at his brother told him Dean was thinking the same thing; only Dean hastily looked away and cleared his throat.
"Let's go."
The car ride to the diner was quiet. Dean drove, Sam was passenger, and Kole rode in the back seat and scribbled in a notebook.
"What are you writing?" Dean asked impatiently, looking at her through the rearview mirror.
"I'm just… collecting my thoughts," she told him without looking up, the pen in her left hand not stopping.
"You really have that much to collect?" Dean smirked.
"What's the matter?" she asked, still writing, but a grin began to form on her lips. "You've never had a lot on your mind?"
Sam tried his best but was unable to hold back a chuckle. Dean glared at him.
When they got to the diner, Kole finally stopped writing, but brought the pen and notebook in with her. As they walked in, the final instrumental strains of 'You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You' played, then were replaced with another instrumental, 'When You're Smiling'. The place was decked out in a 1950s Las Vegas motif, matching the music.
Sam asked for a table and if the owner was around. The hostess, a tall and slender young woman with dark blonde hair and big honey-brown eyes, took them to a corner booth and told them that she would send Sal over. Once she left, Kole pulled her notebook out again and began writing.
"What are you writing?" Dean asked again, attempting to take the notebook away.
"I told you," Kole said, quickly turning the pen over in her hand and jabbing Dean's hand to the table with the flat end, "I'm collecting my thoughts." Dean pulled his hand from underneath the pen and scowled at her. "I'm writing down what we know and some questions we have yet to answer about what's going on."
"We?" Dean asked with annoyance. Kole was unable to respond as Sal was nearing the table.
"Hey'a kids," his voice raspy, "Leila said you wanted to talk to me?"
"Yes," Dean smiled, "My name is Dean, this is Sammy, and this is…"
"Frank," Kole interrupted. Dean and Sam looked at her peculiarly, but Sal gave her a sideways look as he shook her hand. When she gave him a lopsided grin, Sal kissed her hand.
"But," he said sweetly, "you don't have blue eyes."
"Well, no one's perfect," she replied. Sal began to laugh and sat down at the space made when Kole slid to the right on her bench, leaving Dean and Sam looked at one another, completely lost.
Sal and Kole began speaking like they were old pals. Sam tried to enter the conversation once when he heard Sal mention Danny Ocean, but fell silent when he received patronizing looks after making a comment about George Clooney.
"So," Kole said after about 20 minutes, "Sam was told by some of your neighbors that you're the one who knows everything about this town."
"Oh, I wouldn't go that far, Frankie," Sal said with a wink. "I've been here the longest, though. What is it you'd like to know?"
Suddenly, Dean sat up straighter in his seat, no longer irritated by the mindless chatter Sal and Kole had had. He picked up the line of questioning, asking about the recent misfortunes (i.e. deaths) in the town, any relationship between them, and anyone new to the town. He started out slow and covert, but soon realized that Sal was willing to discuss anything and began asking more pointed questions.
Once again, Sam sat in silence, letting his brother take over. He slipped in a short question or two, but mainly busied himself with the hamburger he ordered while Sal and Kole had talked about the old 'Celebrity Roasts'. He did, however, notice that Kole had gone back to her note taking. Only this time, the notebook was under the table and, as Sal was sitting to her left, she was using her right hand.
"Sal!" a voice broke through Sam's thoughts. He looked up to see a middle-aged woman half-walking, half-running to their table. As she reached them and took a deep gulp of air, Sam recognized her as one of the Moms he talked to earlier.
"Emily," Sal was concerned by the look on her face, "what's the matter?"
"Oh, it's Matthew and James," she said between gasps for air. "They're fighting!"
"Now Em," Sal said, trying to be delicate, "you know as well as I do that Matt and James rarely see eye to eye. All they do now-a-days is argue." Sam remembered Matt, too, as one of the Pops. He didn't recall anyone named James, but he could tell from his own experience that he must be Emily and Matt's son.
"No Sal, you don't understand," Emily was in tears now. "They aren't arguing, they are fighting! They're at each other's throats!" At those words, the table all seemed to finally notice that there was a splattering of blood drops on the woman's apron.
Dean slid out of his seat and Sam did the same, reaching the door first and making a left. Sal held Emily, trying to comfort her as they followed the boys. Kole walked behind them, but her attention was taken by Leila, the hostess, and stopped to speak with her, hoping to ask a couple more questions.
Sam yanked the door of 'Emily's Attic' open and he and Dean ran inside. The place was a mess, and not just in the semi-organized cluttered way it had been earlier. Many of the odds and ends were broken, smashed to pieces, or at least scattered around the floor. The back of the shop was filled with incoherent yelling, objects shattering, and punches being thrown, and the Winchesters made their way back towards the sounds.
Just as Dean was about to step through a doorway at the rear of the store, a young man flew out backwards past him. It could only be James. He looked a little younger than Sam and not quite so tall, but heavier. His hair was a mess on top of his head and there were streaks of blood on his face, arms, and chest, but it was impossible to know whether the blood was all his.
The young man had fallen into a dresser and was trying to pick himself up when Sam grabbed him from behind in a full Nelson. The kid cursed and struggled, but could not break Sam's hold.
Then, through the doorway, trudged Matt. Dean was immediately reminded of the bulldog from the old Warner Bros. cartoons, and in comparison, he was the small yappy dog next to Matt. But, Dean had faced bigger opponents than Matt and was able to lock the man's arms behind his back with little difficulty.
"Judging by the split lips and bruised cheeks on these two," Sam said around the still-struggling James, "they've smacked each other in the face more than once and it didn't seem to do the trick. What now?"
But Dean didn't have a chance to answer, as Sal and Emily walked up between the two grappling pairs. Sal stood wide-eyed and Emily let out a loud wail, then buried her face in her hands. Dean and Sam each turned slightly to look at Emily, causing Matt and James to turn as well.
The father and son stopped moving and looked at the woman, each of them blinking and shaking his head. When Dean and Sam loosened their holds, Matt and James stood silently for a moment.
"Emily?" Matt was first to speak.
"Mom? Dad?" James found his voice. "What's going on?"
Emily let out another sob and her husband and son ran to her, the three of them sharing a family embrace.
"Well," Sam said quietly, turning to Dean, "looks like our work here is done."
"Said Superman," Dean rolled his eyes. "Next time, say it with your fists on your hips." He carefully stepped over the destruction and around the weeping family. Sam followed and he, Dean, and Sal walked out the front door.
"Well, I don't know what you boys did," Sal told them after they each took a deep breath, "but I really appreciate it. Those people are like family to me." The old man looked at his feet and shook his head sadly. "Happened the same way with Adam and his son, Kevin. But they weren't so lucky. No tough guys running in to stop them from killing each other," he said with an angry sniff.
Sam put a comforting hand on Sal's shoulder, and Sal reached up to squeeze it in thanks.
"It's like I was telling you boys," Sal continued. "This whole place is full of broken families. I don't know of more than a handful that haven't lost a parent, or child, or both. I'm starting to fear for Leila." Sal shook his head again.
"Leila?" Sam asked. "Why is that, Sal?"
"She's my grand-niece," Sal smiled weakly. "She's the only real family I got."
Author's Note:
As I stated at the beginning, I have posted this story before (not here) and I had a couple of questions about this chapter. Let me just say that I tried to NOT create a Mary Sue in Kole; she was not meant to be a super-woman in any way. Yes, she is very smart and understands some areas of the supernatural (as that was part of what she taught at the college), but she is no where near as trained as the Winchester boys (though John did teach her a thing or two). Instead, I tried to give her her own areas of specialties – such as putting Sal at ease where Dean or Sam may not have been able to. She took in the surroundings of the diner and was able to put Sal at ease.
References: (if you need/want them)
o Though they've both become standards, the instrumental music that is playing when the kids enter to diner are most famous for being sung by Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra (respectively).
o The 1950s Las Vegas motif of the diner was a nod to The Rat Pack.
o Kole introduces herself as 'Frank' (as in Sinatra). Sal tests her out by saying she doesn't have blue eyes, and she returns with "nobody's perfect". Frank Sinatra, among other nicknames, was known as 'Ol Blue Eyes'.
(this is also something that struck me with the whole 'Dean' and 'Sammy' thing – I always thought of Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. and I really wanted to work it into the story)
o Before George Clooney and Julia Roberts were Danny and Tess Ocean, Frank Sinatra and Angie Dickinson were Danny and Beatrice Ocean. Compromising some of the rest of the 11 were other members of The Rat Pack.
o The 'Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts' were basically a bunch of celebrities (TV and movie stars, comics, sports legends) ganging up on the 'guest of honor' and making fun of them. Of course, it was all in fun. Dean Martin, of course, was always there and often got made fun of as well. Frank Sinatra was a 'guest of honor' once, and either Sammy Davis, Jr. was as well or he was in attendence.