Dean walks out of the bathroom, wrapped in just a towel around his waist, completely interrupting the conversation I was having with Lindy about the lack of useful information available on the history of the ghost town. Of course, this was all part of my plan when I knocked on the door connecting our rooms and invited her over to compare theories. I smirk when Dean stops in his tracks, eyes wide. I imagine that the look on his face now is as close to mortified as Dean will ever get.

"Oh…" Lindy says, her own eyes doubling in size as they take in the sight of my brother dripping wet.

I know that Dean's going to kill me, but man, it'll be worth it. I can't stop myself from laughing.

"Oh, hey, Dean." I manage through the laughter.

"Sammy…" Dean begins, taking one heavy step towards me with murder in his eyes before he stops himself. I knew he wouldn't sacrifice his precious dignity to kill me right away, "Sam, get me my clothes."

"You don't have to." I hear Lindy say under her breath so Dean won't hear. I expect I wasn't supposed to hear either, but her comment makes me grin even more.

Still, I know I can only push Dean so far so I dig through our stuff and throw some clothes his direction. He snatches them and retreats back into the bathroom. I wonder how long I have left to live.

"Sam," Lindy says, drawing my attention back to her, "This isn't exactly what I expected when you said to come over 'cause Dean was in the shower and he'd be right out."

I just chuckle, unable to think of anything to say. She's giving me this examining look, as if she's trying to decide if I'm trustworthy. I smile back at her, trying to let her know that I'm on her side as long as it involves annoying and embarrassing Dean.

"So," she finally continues, her speech slow and carefully worded, "I take it that I haven't been exactly subtle so I just want you to know that…I love you."

I laugh again, understanding her meaning, "Hey, when it comes to embarrassing my brother, anytime."

"I knew I liked you, Sam." she replies, a wide smile appearing on her own face.

I'm about to reply when I hear the bathroom door opening, so I quickly return my attention back to my laptop, "It could just be a vortex."

"No, there'd be a steadier stream of disappearances." Lindy says, playing along with the diligent study facade, but also making a good point, "It wouldn't be happening all of a sudden like this. Something must have been disturbed to set whatever-it-is off."

"So, it's something we need to kill." Dean says, officially making his entrance.

"Could be." I agree, although I'm a little worried about Dean's trigger happiness. You'd think he'd want to come across a simple case where we don't have to face something that wants to kill us every once in awhile. But, I guess that's Dean. If he wasn't carrying a weapon, I might not recognize him.

"How many hunts have you guys been on?" Lindy asks curiously, looking from Dean to me and back again.

I look to Dean to answer since he's been on more hunts than I have. Plus, Dean is more likely to keep track. It's what he does, after all. This is his self-proclaimed job. I still have hopes that I won't have to live on the road hunting ghosts my whole life.

Dean pauses, running a hand through his hair as he thinks.

"Well, I went on my first hunt with Dad when I was fifteen...um…over a hundred, at least, I'd say. Dad would know for sure." Dean shrugs.

Lindy's jaw drops and I have to say that I'm kind of surprised, too. I had no idea that Dad and Dean had hunted so much. I mean, I figured it was a lot, but hearing an actually number makes it more real somehow. My family's lives have been in danger over a hundred times. Many of those times occurring while I'd been sitting in class at Stanford. I recalled the time when Dean had been possessed by a mad scientist and had yelled at me for being selfish. Maybe he was right. Maybe I have been. Maybe I am. I suddenly don't feel too much like witty banter and casual conversation. I suddenly feel like getting this the hell over with so that I don't have to think about this anymore, so that I can focus on the job instead.

"Are you serious?" Lindy's asking, but I'm not really paying attention any more. I'm focused back on my laptop, trying to narrow down the possible nasty things that could be lying in wait for us.

"Yeah." Dean says like it doesn't matter, but also with the utmost sincerity.

"And you've…you've seen things? Real things? Ghosts and…and…"

"Vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, poltergeists, demons. Yeah, honey. We've seen it. We've killed it." Dean answers affirmatively. I glance up at him over my computer to see a satisfied look on his face. Not really like pride. He's not showing off. More like he's pleased to finally be getting through to her, finally making her see that this is real and serious.

Lindy's eyes are wide and bright. She seems kind of innocent, the way she looks at the moment. I really look at her for the first time with this new perspective altering my vision. Her dirty blonde hair hangs loose around her arms, almost down to her elbows. I hadn't really noticed how long her hair was before when we'd met her last night. She'd had it in a ponytail, then. Her blue eyes are staring up at Dean like he's something she's never seen before and doesn't quite understand yet. She seems young and I wonder how old she actually is. She's never mentioned it.

"Cool." she breathes, her mouth turning up in a smile.

I look back down at my computer, knowing that her statement will cause Dean to launch into a lecture about the dangers of the supernatural. I've heard it before from both him and Dad. I don't need to hear it again. I tune Dean out as he tries to scare her out of her enthusiasm. I have to admit, it's kind of nice to hear someone think what my family does is cool. It's not often that we run across someone who doesn't initially not believe us and think we're crazy and then want to put as much distance between us and them as possible once they learn the truth. I put that out of my mind as I run through the possibilities again of what this thing could be, referencing the scanty details in the newspaper articles on the disappearances against the M.O.s of the various entities. I rule out werewolves and other supernatural beasts of that variety. Vampires are out, too. Whatever this thing is, it's not leaving any bodies behind. Even a starving werewolf is going to leave something behind and vampires don't usually care to clean up after themselves. In fact, the lack of any bodies is making this kind of difficult to pin on anything in particular. I squint at the screen in frustration, willing something to show up that will explain things. Unfortunately the Internet is not complying and my searching abilities don't seem to be yielding much. Maybe what I'm looking for isn't there. Maybe we're going to just need to do some old-fashioned Scooby Doo type investigating to figure this one out. I sigh and close my laptop, turning my attention back to the developing argument between my brother and the reporter.

"Stop trying to scare me, Dean!" she snaps at him and I'm a little surprised at how she's managed to keep her confidence around him. Apparently, she's not speechless with him in the room anymore.

"If you were smart, you'd be scared! You'd be scared shitless. And once you're good and scared, you'll be careful. But you don't seem to get that." Dean replies, leaning over her where she's sitting cross-legged on my bed.

"Stop talking to me like I'm a child." she growls, "Maybe I'm not as experienced as you, but that doesn't mean I'm useless!"

"Dean." I interrupt, giving him a look telling him to lay off.

Dean sends his gaze heavenward and turns his back on both of us, retreating back to the other side of the room. I decide to try and repair the situation since it's not even lunchtime yet and I don't want to have to put up with two moody people for the rest of the day.

"Dean's just trying to make you understand how dangerous this is. You can't go into this without knowing that." I explain as diplomatically as possible.

"Whatever." she huffs, crossing her arms across her chest and looking off to the side, not meeting my eyes and avoiding the direction Dean's in completely.

Silence descends on the room and I feel like we've all withdrawn to the corners of the room, distant from each other even though none of us have really moved and I'm still sitting in the chair near my bed where she's sitting. The tension really bothers me and I can tell that if anyone's going to break it, it's going to be me. Dean is too stubborn and from what I've gleaned of Lindy's personality so far, she is, too. I hate having to mediate between Dean and the girls he's ticked off all the time.

"Look, we're not getting anywhere with this right now. Let's just forget it for now." I propose a truce, "Maybe we should go scope out Fort Tucker before this thing comes out."

Dean and Lindy both shrug noncommittally. I shake my head at the two of them and get up out of my chair, heading for the door. I'd rather wait for them in the car than sit in the same room with them acting like children. But as soon as I step out the door I'm faced with the decision of whether to head for the Impala or opt for Lindy's little green car. I sigh again in frustration and wait for Dean and Lindy to join me outside.