Chapter 6: Who is Maxine?

Now this chapter is a little twisted but you should be able to follow. My inspiration for this instalment is of course myself and 3 of my 13 or so relatives. New characters, Yay!

Sorry but I got a little distracted during the process of this chapter because of this damn IKEA catalogue –waves catalogue around-. It came in the mail and I swooped on it before mum. Needless to say, she's not a happy chappie that she didn't get to crease the pages before me. 

If you don't know who Janis Joplin is then shame on you! I know the words and tune of 'Me and Bobby McGee', 'cry baby' and 'move over' off by heart!

Dean started stuffing his clothes into the nearest bag he could find then stopped, and turned around. His brother and sister were staring at him and he rolled his eyes, "Pack usually means pack, not gape open mouthed at me"

He told them and Sam shook his head, "not until you tell us who Maxine is" he said. Dean groaned,

"guys, could you just trust me on this one? You'll find out when we get there, it won't take long"

Kate folded her arms over her chest, "come on Sammy. If Dean thinks this 'Maxine' can be trusted then we'll go" she grabbed her bag and copied Dean in stuffing clothes into a bag. After a while Sam gave up and also put his clothes into his bag.

The car ride was almost silent, except for the Janis Joplin tape Kate popped in before driving off. She sung the words to 'Me and Bobby McGee' while Sam sat in the back seat typing on his laptop.

Busted flat at bandruge,

Waiting for a train,

And I was feeling near faded as my jeans,

Bobby flagged down a truck to town,

Just before it rained,

And rode all the way to New Orleans,

I pull my harpoon,

And my green and red bandana,

I was playing soft while Bobby sang the blues,

Windshield wipers clack in time,

I held bobby's hand in mine,

We sang every song that driver knew,

Breathing's just another word for,

Nothin' left to lose,

Nothin',

I mean nothin' honey if it aint free,

But if feeling good was easy enough,

When he sang the blues,

Then feeling good was good enough for me,

Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee,

From the Kentucky coalmines,

To the California sun,

Where Bobby shared the secrets of my soul,

Through all kinds of weather,

And everything we'd done,

Yeah bobby baby,

Kept me closer to you,

I one day I missed Orleans,

I let him slip away,

He's looking for that home and I hope he finds it,

But on the train or not tomorrow,

We'll sing like yesterday,

To be holding bobby's body next to mine,

Breathing's just another word for,

Nothin' left to lose,

Nothin',

And that's all that bobby left me,

But if feeling good was easy enough,

When he sang the blues,

Then feeling good was good enough for me,

Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee,

And on and on and on and on,

Hey, hey, hey, Bobby McGee

Yeah!

Kate had a brilliant voice that matched Janis's ranging, almost ragged voice perfectly and Sam enjoyed listening to her. Apparently their mother was a great singer when she was younger and Kate had inherited that trait.

He went back to the laptop and continued sorting through his college pictures. He came across one of him and Jessica and tears sparkled in the corner of his eyes. God he missed her. Sam always loved Jessica because of her Kate-like ways. She reminded him of home when he was at college.

Now that he spent all of his time with Kate he realised that she was almost exactly like Jessica. She was a walking talking memory of her. He shut the laptop with such force that Dean jumped in his seat.

Sam looked out the window and blinked away the tears as memories of Jessica flooded his head. Kate took one hand off of the steering wheel and patted his knee. Sam choked on a sob and Kate pulled the car over.

Sam shoved the door open and stormed out, breaking into a run across the field and scaring the birds out of the long grass. Kate and dean also opened their doors and got out. Kate took her shoes off and shoved them at Dean,

"wait here. I think I better handle this." She told him and set off in a run towards the other side of the wide field. Kate was the Tennessee state cross country champion in year 11 at school and had an unbeaten record.

She stopped about 50 metres away from the tree that Sam was now pounding his fists on. She watched as he stopped and leant up with his back up against it, the bark catching at his t-shirt as he slowly slid down.

He brought his long legs up to his chest and dug his head into his knees. She walked over and sat down next to him, leaning up against the tree.

"you were thinking about her, weren't you?" she asked him softly and he nodded slowly.

"you know you can always talk to me about it if you want" she offered and knelt next to him, lifting his chin up. she pulled his head down towards her chest and wrapped the other arm around his back.

Sam sniffled softly and let Kate stroke his sandy brown hair,

"She reminded me of you, you know? She had this, attitude about her that made me miss you and Dean and Dad so much when I went away. I never talked about my family to her, no matter how many times she asked"

he stopped to wipe his now running nose before continuing,

"she knew your names, that was probably it. When you came to the house that night she said that I had told her great things about you when all she knew was that you were Kate, Sam's older sister"

Kate sighed,

"maybe you should have told her what we did for a living and why you had left. When I came to get you it was like you were a different Sam entirely to the one that had left that house 2 years earlier."

Sam looked up at her, "why did you come and get me that day? You and Dean could have found dad on your own. You didn't need me."

Kate felt teary now, "I insisted you come. Dean said to leave you alone but I couldn't. I missed you. Coming back to the place we were staying at and not seeing you waiting or turning around on a hunt to get something from you and you weren't there"

Sam sat up, "so Dean didn't want me to come?" he questioned Kate. "sort of. He said you were a last resort and I said that you were a part of this whole ordeal. We fought for ages and on the way to get you we didn't talk"

She wiped at her eyes and a small chuckle escaped her lips, "I admire you Sammy. You stood up to Dad and fought for what you believe in. I never would have had the guts to do that. I asked if I could go to college once and he went ballistic"

Sam's eyebrows knitted together, "you wanted to go to college?" he questioned Kate and she nodded. 'I had the grades to as well. Dean didn't really care but I wanted to become a physiotherapist."

She paused to cough, " I think I know who Maxine is. I reckon she's the wife of an old marine buddy of Dad's. Dean asked her to keep an eye out for dad to see if he passed through California and obviously he did"

Sam looked to her with confusion written all over his face, "I thought dad didn't keep in touch with marine corp." He said and Kate shook her head, "so did I. Until I overheard Dean talking on the phone to them. I'd appreciate it if you pretend not to know"

Sam nodded and stood up, then offered a hand to Kate. She took it and they walked to the car hand in hand.

Kate pulled up to the curb and all 3 siblings watched as the fire crews struggled to put out a raging blaze at number 8. Dean quickly got out the car and raced up to the police line. "shit!" he muttered several times and ducked under the tape.

"chief! How severe is the damage?" he yelled out to an official in a fireman's suit. The man answered with a grave slow shake of the head, "no one could have escaped that fire. There weren't any survivors"

Dean sat down on a tree stump. Kate walked from the smouldering wreckage to the stump and motioned for him to move over, "so this was Maxine's house then?" she asked and Dean gave a grunt as a reply.

She gave a low whistle, "I guess someone beat us to the crossroads this time" she stood up and made her way to where Sam was crouching over a pile of ash. "watcha lookin' at?" was the enquiry. Sam stood up and let the ash fall through his long fingers.

"see the ash? That's not what ash should look like. It usually has chunks of half-burnt wood and cinders. This is almost like dust. It's not normal" he rubbed his fingers together and then scratched his forehead, leaving a huge black smear.

Kate giggled and motioned for him to bend down slightly, "what would you do without me; you big grubby child. Dean wouldn't have told you about this, he would have let you suffer the humility of looking like a Dalmatian"

As Kate rubbed fiercely at his head he continued talking, "whoever did this must have been a professional" she stopped, "you don't think this was an accident?" Sam stood up straight again, "of course I don't think this was an accident. Something did this"

Dean came over then and the two immediately ceased their conversation. "let's go" was his simple request and Sam obediently followed it. Kate stared at the house for a little while longer then walked off the premises to the Impala.

A/N: so there it is peoples. Another chapter. Tell me what you think and there's a free cookie in it for you. I won't update until I get 5 reviews (that means you Britt!)