Disclaimer: Sod it, you all know it, I don't own it Blah blah blah

From this point it starts to go a little weird. I'm not sure what I think about it but anyway, here we go. The little town in Texas is a creation of my warped mind, think what you will. Please R&R

Chapter 4: On the Road Again.

Waking up the next morning was interesting. Both of the boys had stayed with Eve that night, she had been reluctant to leave the room, Dean was undecided over the reason. He was torn between the bonding session between Sam and Eve that had occurred, or her sudden fear of attack. He opened his eyes and looked across the room. From his place on the king sized double bed, he could see Sam and Eve curled on the couch. They were laughing quietly at some private joke. Sam did not look like he had slept, this was nothing new in the world of Sam Winchester, he seemed to go days before he even tried to sleep and usually he woke screaming. Eve had obviously woken up not long ago, her hair was rumpled and some had escaped from the plait, it gave her an almost wild look. Most disturbing was that she was wearing little more than a t-shirt and it was one that he recognised, it was one of his Metallica t-shirts that had gone missing when she had gone to college. He wondered how often she had worn it. It was long on her but not long enough, it left a lot of leg exposed and he ran his eyes up them before he had realised what he was doing and stopped. It was a testament of how close they had been as they had grown up. She was comfortable with them and comfortable with her own body in their presence.

They had never been told to think of themselves as brothers and sister actively, but it had been easier on them to do it that way as they hit adolescence. Reminding himself that she was as good as a sister to him had kept him from trying to do anything inappropriate at that point in his life, a time that had been filled with raging hormones and disturbing new developments. He sat up, not willing to dwell on the thoughts that seeing her had brought up, thoughts that scared him. Eve looked over and the smile on her face faded as she pulled the t-shirt down over her legs, her eyes were wary and Dean wondered why she suddenly felt so uncomfortable around him.

"I better get dressed," she said quietly, standing and grabbing a bag from the foot of the bed. She went into the bathroom and closed the door.

"What did I do?" Dean asked his brother. Sam shrugged but did not meet his eyes.

"I don't know, Dean, I really don't," he shook his head. "She seemed fine, so happy."

"Then I woke up," his voice held a mocking note. "Who would have thought that she hated me so much. Can't understand why..."

"Maybe it's because you're an arrogant ass," she said from the door. "Maybe it's because you can't understand anything other than your own needs and your own misplaced sense of loyalties."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that you believe that just because I did not do as you do, because I do not run to you every time you demand it of me, that I am wrong, a traitor to your father and his cause. Because I chose to go my own way and fight this fight as I wish to fight it!" She was dangerously close to him now as he rose from the bed.

"I don't think that you're a traitor, but I do know that you turned your back on us the first chance that you got!"

"As I recall, I didn't ask for that chance, nor was I given a choice about contacting you. You told me not to and you never answered when I tried, so I stopped!" She began to turn away.

"We aren't done!" He used his Dad voice, the one that had worked so well on Sam.

"Yes, Dean, we are! You aren't your father so don't try to take that tone with me, it won't work! This stops, you're stuck with me, I'm stuck with you, neither of us likes it much but that's just tough! Live with it ands stop treating me like I'm the piece of ass that you picked up in a bar last night!" He grabbed her by the collar and pulled her close, so that they were face to face. Hazel eyes met lilac/blue and locked, neither was willing to back down and lose the battle of wills, the alpha male to the female.

"Uh, guys, shouldn't we be..." Both looked at Sam in the same moment and the expressions on their faces made him wish that he had stayed out of their way.

"Yeah, Sam, you're right," Eve managed to smile at him, "I need to sell the car, I'm not racing you two to the next job."

"Sell the car?" Dean asked, not sure if she was talking about her car or his. "I'll have you know..."

"My car, my mint condition, 1975 MGB Roadster, not the Impala, Dean. I wouldn't even try to sell her."

"But you'll sell the hairdressers car?" Dean laughed.

"You can laugh, Dean Winchester, laugh it up, but I love that car. You're father gave me that car."

"Then don't sell it, put it in storage for a while, at least until we're done, don't sell it," Dean was experiencing an unexpected sensitive moment.

"What? Why?"

"Because," he tried to save some face, "I don't want you blaming my ass for this when you decide to move on." At some point he had relaxed his grip on her shirt, though normally he would not have made such a violent gesture towards a member of the opposite sex. She brought her hands up and brushed his away. In comparison to Dean's 6'1"she was small, at 5'7", yet she could easily take Dean if she wanted, Sam too and he was bigger than Dean, yet she refrained from accepting the challenge issued by Dean's actions, which was unusual. Their eyes met again but this time there was no hostility in her gaze or his.

"Right, well..." she blinked and the spell was broken. "I gotta pack."

She had been traveling with the boys for nearly a week and still they had nothing, then out of the blue she got a message from John:

A small town in north Texas, Idless, was experiencing a wave of deaths. It could not be described as murders, nobody could murder someone by burning the inside of the body but barely touching the outside. The deceased only had two things in common: they were male and they were all regular patrons of one of the bars, The Watering Hole.

"So what's the plan?" Dean asked as he pulled in to the first motel they came across.

"Find the bar, talk to the locals, get a feel for the place," Eve said in reply, leaning on the back of the seat so that her head was stuck between Dean and Sam's. The journey had one good effect, she and Dean had not argued in nearly two days, in fact, they were almost back to the same level of intimacy that they had been before the college incident and if she was honest, she had missed it. Idly she trailed a finger across Dean's shoulders as they discussed potential ideas before getting out of the car. Dean went into the office to organise the rooms as Sam and Eve lounged against the Impala, talking quietly

"The bar's hiring," Dean said as he re-emerged from inside, "female staff only, may be why Dad wanted you with us on this one, Eve."

"You want me to get a job in that bar?"

"You got a better idea? And you've got experience..." he cocked his head to one side and gave her that little half smile that he knew sent all the women he encountered into a frenzy. Sure enough she smiled shyly back and nodded.

"Fine, but I get to take the car, can't apply for a job if I don't have wheels now, can I?"

Eve was working that night at the bar, she had not returned from her interview and she had not been answering her phone, it could have been one of two things and Dean was glad to find that she had not gotten herself into trouble. He was unprepared for what he saw her doing when they entered the bar. Because she had grown up in the constant company of three men, Eve knew exactly what buttons to push to get them to do anything for her, Dean had just never seen her use that particular gift until that evening. Any guy she spoke to was putty in her hands within moments of meeting her and she was an instant hit with the other staff as a result.

"Hey, sweetheart," he decided it was best if he pretended not to know her, "can I get me a couple of beers?"

She grinned at him. "Course you can," she met his eyes boldly for a moment, then looked down and to his surprise, a slow blush crept up her cheeks. "Anything else you want me to do?" Her voice became low and sultry and Dean found himself turned on by her in a way that he should never have been.

She's like a sister, you've known her that long, she's like your sister, he told himself over and over. "So, uh, what's your name?" His inner mantra was not working.

"Eva," she replied, her favourite disguise was that of Eva Hanson, a name that no one would remember.

"Eva," he dwelt on the name a little, then turned, "well thanks, Eva. I hope I shall be seeing more of you," he looked her up and down like a sister, like a sister, then walked over to the table that Sam was sitting at.

"Now he was cute," one of the other barmaids said to her as he left. Eve nodded with a small smile. "Here, drink this," she was handed a small glass of a thick purple liquid, "you'll like it." Eve did as she was told. Whatever was in the glass tasted amazing, there was no possible way for her to describe it. The liquid made her feel warm but cold at the same time, her head felt light, her whole being felt light ands time seemed to race by. By the time the night ended she had a collection of phone numbers and had given out more than her fair share. She felt like she was drunk but was almost certain that the unknown liquid had not contained any alcohol.

When she got back to the motel, the light in the boys room was already out so she unlocked her door, walked in and shut it softly behind her. Then she undressed, pulled on Dean's Metallica t-shirt and fell onto the bed. Thoughts of the two boys brought something else to mind. Dean and the way he treated her, the way she felt about him and why she let him get away with it. He should have been like a brother to her, but more and more she had found herself thinking of him in a slightly different way. At that moment she wondered what it would be like to kiss Dean, properly, not just a chaste kiss on the cheek. She wanted to know what it would be like to run her hands up his bare chest in a lovers caress, not in a moment of anger whilst waiting for a chance to strike. She wanted to be held in his arms as they made love for hours into the night. These thoughts all worried her, a lot. It was not the first time that she had thought this way about Dean, she had thought like this since she was a teenager, trouble was, telling herself that he was supposed to be like a brother to her was not working any more, it never really had.

"Damn him," she muttered before succumbing to sleep.

She woke up early the next morning to a pounding on her bed room door. She muttered a few choice words as she pulled on a cardi and wrenched the door open as she pulled the cardi shut. It was Dean and his fist was raised as if he was about to start pounding in then door again.

"What?" She snapped as he marched past her. She glanced at the bedside clock. "It's 6.30! By rights we should still be asleep." She was upset, he could see that, but he was in no mood to deal with her mood swings.

"Your point being? Dad trained us to go for days with little sleep and you know you can do it as well as I can! What the hell was with you last night?"

"I don't know what you mean," she stared at him.

"Oh yes, yes you do. You know exactly what I mean!" He met hers eyes again, even though he knew how dangerous it was for him to do that. "When Sam and I left, you'd given your number to seventeen different men! What the hell time did you get back last night anyway? What was with you?"

"Nothing! There was nothing wrong with me last night! You're such a hypocrite!"

"You were drunk! No way you would give out your number if you weren't! You were damn unprofessional!"

"No, Dean, I was not drunk! I was doing what every other barmaid in the history of the position has done! What? Any other woman can do it but I can't, is that it? Why the hell should you care?"

"I care because you're like a sister to me, it's my job to watch you, just like I watch Sam. I need to know that you're with me on this one hundred percent and not distracted by the next guy that comes into the bar!" He turned away, trying to avoid the hurt in her eyes when he had told her that she was like a sister to him. He had lied to her, he cared because he was jealous.

"So I'm like a sister to you!" She snapped. "Well then, brother mine, get your nose out of my problems!" He flinched a little at her tone and the venom with which she said brother. "Don't turn your back on me, Dean!" She grabbed his shoulder and he looked back at her. She was shocked when she saw how deeply her words had hurt him.

"I was just trying to look out for you," he muttered as he looked away from her again.

"Despite recent evidence to the contrary, I can take care of myself!"

"Yeah, well, it doesn't stop me from doing it, ok?" He rubbed tiredly at his face and turned around to face her again. "Look, Dad used to tell me to keep an eye on you and Sam all the time, it's a hard habit to break." With her, he knew, he had to be honest, she had always been able to tell when he was lying and at this point, making her more angry than she already was, was not an option. She laid a gentle hand over the one that was still resting on his cheek, taking it and drawing it down, holding it and covering it with her other hand.

"Look, Dean, I appreciate it, really I do, but, God, Dean, it's just been so long, I'm just, well, I'm not used to it anymore. I got used to holding my own." A loose strand of hair had fallen across her face and he brushed it away with his free hand. The intimate gesture was unexpected and she found herself blushing as she turned her eyes up to his face, the gentle expression there almost took her breath away, it was so unlike his usual one.

"Get used to it, because as long as you're with us, I'll be taking care of you." His voice was low and carried a mixture of strong emotions and looking into his eyes, all her anger had long since faded, she saw something deep and gentle there, something which was also in her eyes and should not have been there. He had not taken his hand from her face and now looking into her eyes he leant forward to kiss her.

"There you are," Sam came in through the door and Eve silently cursed as they both jumped apart, she must not have closed it properly.

"Here we are,"Dean muttered bitterly and she could hear the disappointment in his voice, even as she could still feel the touch of his hand on her cheek. She glared at Sam for a moment then looked back at Dean.

"You going to yell at me any more?" She asked, covering her confusion. He shook his head. "Then get out so that I can get dressed!"

What do you think?

Artemis