Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize, not Dean (sigh), Sam, or that gorgeous car.
Rating: Not sure yet, but I'm going with K+ for now. May be upped to T in later chapters.
Reviews: Pretty please. I would love any comments you have, especially suggestions for where to go with the story. Outside impute makes everything better. Also, if you have an idea for the title, let me know.
What the hell is Sammy up to now? I ask him to get me a beer and directions to this ghost town and he comes back with a girl? If it were me, I'd understand, but this is Sam for Christ's sake. It's not like he knows how to have fun, how to relax, or how to hook up.
I try to signal to Sam not to bring her over when she's not looking, but Sam is completely oblivious. For a college boy, he's pretty dumb. Doesn't he know that I want to get this over with and get the hell out of Nowhere, USA, without entangling us in any further baggage? We have enough for god's sake.
"Dana, this is my brother Dean." Sam says, gesturing towards me.
"Hi." she says quietly, looking at me, then quickly looking away.
Great, she's one of those. One of those girls who immediately wants me (how can they resist, after all?), but is too unsure of herself to be upfront about it. I hate that. Okay, maybe not hate. Sometimes, I like it, when I'm in the right mood.
"Uh…Sam…" I begin.
"She's headed to Fort Tucker, too, Dean." Sam interrupts me in his excited voice as he actually pulls out a chair for her.
Sam and his chivalry. What a joke.
"Fort Tucker?" I question, glaring at Sam over her head since she's still avoiding looking at me. I continue levelly, hoping Sam will clue into the warning flags that should have sent up, "What a coincidence."
Apparently, I really need to have a talk with him because he shakes his head quickly at me, completely ignoring the fact that she could very well be here to kill us. Sammy must think she's genuine just because she's acting all embarrassed and cute. God, Sam, you're so naïve. When will you actually grow up, little brother?
"She works for a researcher." Sam says, his eyes bright with this look that reminds me of when he was little and came home from school one day, bursting at the seams to tell Dad and me about the new friends that he'd made, "Right, Dana?"
"Uh…yeah." she agrees, finally looking up at me.
Her face is a little red. She's still giving me all the signs of being infatuated with me, which is really driving me crazy. Normally I'd find this real amusing. In fact, normally I'd probably lead her on a bit and maybe take a quick spin with her in the back of a car or something. And damn if I don't want to but, unlike Sam, I'm not about to let my guard down when someone shows up and announces that they're headed to the same obscure location as we are. Especially not after the thing with Sam's chick, Meg. In fact, on the whole I'm getting pretty tired of chicks trying to kill us. Well, I may as well see if I can get to the bottom of this since Sammy is so determined to get us into trouble. That's what girls are really: trouble.
At least I'm good at dealing with trouble.
"What kind of researcher sends his assistant all the way out here?" I ask, turning on the charm while I interrogate her.
"The mean kind?" she offers almost sounding uncertain. I'm certain she's lying to me. But she suddenly seems to get some kind of hold on herself because she comes back with a question of her own, "What kind of developer wants to build in the middle of nowhere over a ghost town where kids disappear?"
"The crazy kind." Sam jumps in, giving her his "I'm too cute to lie" smile.
Apparently he's fed her some two-bit story about us working for someone who wants to build at Fort Tucker. I'd hoped that Sam could do better, but if that's what he told her, whatever. I quickly shoot him a look, telling him that he's responsible for his own bullshit. Normally, I'd jump in and help him out, but I tried to avoid this one by telling him not to bring her over and if Sammy doesn't want to listen to me, he's going to have to learn to dig himself out.
"Hey, since we have to go out there anyway, maybe we can get those pictures and stuff for you." Sam offers, trying to distract her.
She goes kind of stiff at the suggestion, which makes me even more suspicious. She immediately shakes her head.
"No, no, no. I have to go." she insists.
"Why's that?" I press, unable to resist pushing the issue, "It's just a couple pictures, right?"
She looks between me and Sam and I can see her mind racing in her eyes. Finally, she gets this fed-up look on her face and I sense that she's about to give up and tell us the truth.
"Okay, so I'm not a research assistant. I lied. I'm a reporter. I'm working on a story and I'm not about to let you guys scoop me, so forget it." she says, getting all defensive.
I can't help but laugh, "What? You think we're reporters?"
"Well, you're sure as hell not contractors or whatever." she snaps.
I feel myself stiffen a little at being caught in our own lie. I open my mouth to feed her a new one since Sam's shitty one fell through like I'd thought it would, when Sam once again butts in and blows it.
"We're ghost hunters. We got word about the town and the disappearances around here. We thought we could help." he confesses.
God, I hate it when Sam tells the truth. I shake my head and lean back away from the table, letting them know with my body language that I can't be held responsible for this anymore.
Her eyes are wide, "You have to let me go with you."
"No." I sit up again and lean forward. I keep on finding myself immediately going against what I've just decided, but I'm putting my foot down on this one, "No way."
"Come on. I'll put you in the article if you want. Full spread, I promise."
"Forget it." I insist.
"Or I can leave you out completely if that's your thing. Whatever you want." she continues, not even hearing my protests as she waves her hands expressively as she tries to convince us.
"Uh…no." I try again anyway.
"She's going to go anyway, Dean." Sam has to chip in.
She nods quickly in agreement. They both look at me expectantly. I hate it when Sam looks at me like that. It's this puppy dog look that makes me feel like I'm looking at an eight-year-old Sammy again, begging me to let him come with me to the movies or whatever.
"Ah, fuck no. Sam," I gesture for him to get up and join me a few feet away. I need the opportunity to turn my back on his expression, "get over here."
We step away from the table so I can yell at him and hopefully talk sense into him. I can't believe he's ganging up on me with a complete stranger. I wonder if I'm madder about what he's doing or that he's siding with her instead of me. I can't help but feel a little betrayed at that.
"What the hell are you thinking?" I demand in a hushed tone.
"What?" Sam asks, like he has no idea what an idiot he's being.
I can't believe he doesn't see the problem, "How the hell are we supposed to hunt things and keep track of Lois Lane at the same time?"
Sam looks thoughtful for a second, "I was thinking more Chloe Sullivan than Lois."
"Sam!" I snap, "She could get us both killed. Us and her."
Even though I'm not really too concerned about her trying to sabotage us on purpose anymore, she's still completely capable of sending this whole mission straight to hell.
"We've taken girls hunting with us before, Dean." Sam points out.
"Not on purpose." I argue, ignoring the fact that there have been times when I was responsible for bringing girls along. I quickly add before Sam can bring that fact up, "And not ones who can blow every cover story we've ever used and will use."
"She said she'd leave us out of it if we wanted. You're being paranoid." he argues, refusing to listen to reason.
I shake my head, unsure of what else I can say that will get through to him. He starts to smile, realizing he's winning this argument. I hate arguing with Sam. He just won't let things go no matter how stupid they are.
"Besides, she totally digs you." he says, with a big grin.
I ignore him, instead telling him "She is your responsibility since this is your stupid idea. You baby-sit."
With that I stomp back over to the table. I slam my hands down, satisfied when she jumps a little, and lean in towards her. Maybe if I can intimidate her a little, she'll give up this stupid idea about following us, about wanting to chase ghosts to make a name for herself, about liking me. And hopefully in that order because as long as she's not bothering us about joining us on a hunt, I wouldn't really mind spending some time with her on other activities.
"We're not interested in making a name for ourselves. We're not interested in any of that shit. This is our job and it's not a joke. Stay out of the way and do exactly what Sam or I tell you, when we tell you. Those are the conditions. Understand?"
She nods quickly, apparently happy to agree to any deal that involves her coming with us. I can already tell this is the worst idea Sammy has ever had. My gut is already screaming at me that nothing good can come of this. I down the rest of my beer and try to ignore it.
