Disclaimer: I don't own the Winchesters or Supernatural. They belong to the WB and far more talented people than me. But goddess I wish I did own them. The only thing that's mine is Lacey and believe me, she wishes she weren't.

Ooh. A change in the point of view. In other words, a brief interlude from Lacey's mind.

Part 5: The Darkness That Lurks

It was a run down little house, damaged by a fire and by age. Dust and cobwebs were once its only residents. The smell of blood was potent and it was everywhere. Time seemed to slow down at every drip that fell from the archway of the room.

It reeked of death.

He sat on the burnt sofa with his head leaning back on the top of it.

The sound of a pair of dice being rolled filled the room.

Somewhere a floorboard creaked as footsteps echoed off the rotted wood of the house. There was a sharp intake of breath.

"No."

A beautiful woman draped herself over him, her blood red lips curved into a wicked smile. A manicured nail traced his bare throat.

He didn't move.

"Get away from him!"

The pair in the doorway could only stare in horror as with one quick flick of her wrist, his throat was open.

There was no scream. Just blood.

Floor to ceiling flames burst from the floor in front of the pair, hindering any access into the room.

"DEAN!"

The woman's face could not be seen beyond the flames, but her voice was sultry, smug…

"It's your move."

Sam's eyes snapped wide open and he nearly fell out of his chair. His eyes slowly adjusted to the morning light flooding through the window of his brother's hospital room. He was relieved to see Dean still asleep in his bed, but the dream had chilled him. It was one thing to see strangers.. But to see his brother like that, helpless.. Stolen. Again. It was unthinkable. He ran his hands through his hair with a disgruntled sigh and leaned over.

That was the way Dean found him when he opened his eyes. He'd been having a damn good dream about that nurse, whose name he couldn't remember. But the euphoric feeling he'd gotten from that was swept away the moment he saw Sam. "What is it?"

Sam looked over at him, his skin ashen. "Searching for dad has to wait."

"What?" Sammy did not just say that. Dean sat up with a low growl. "No, he can't. That bastard has him and we aren't stopping for anything until we-"

"I saw you die, Dean!" Sam didn't even try to build up to it.

Dean frowned. "It wouldn't be the first time I almost died."

Sam felt a wave of déjà vu, but he shook it off. "You weren't almost dead. I saw you. We saw you. She killed you right in front of us."

"She? Was it that Lacey chick?" Dean grunted. He knew he had a bad feeling about her the moment he saw her. "We can handle it."

"It wasn't her." Sam told him. He didn't think she was that bad. Besides, she gave him the extra cookie last night. "In the dream, Lacey was with me. I think the woman in my dream is involved with whatever's trying to kill her."

"So we're dragged into her mess now." Dean was seriously annoyed at this point. He wanted out of the hospital. He wanted to find their dad, then he wanted to find that damn nurse for a victory celebration…

"Maybe, but I don't think it's that simple." Sam knew Dean was going to hate this part. "All I know is that we should take Lacey up on her offer."

"You have to be fucking kidding me, Sammy." Dean groaned in dismay. He wasn't about to be chauffeured around in some chick car.

"I'm serious. I think we need each other for this."

"No way in hell."

That afternoon, the Winchesters were standing outside of the small motel Lacey was staying at.

"You owe me big, Sammy." Dean grumbled as he surveyed the parking lot.

"It's Sam." The younger brother corrected automatically. "Trust me. This is the way it has to be."

Their family friend Bobby joined them with a shake of his head. "You boys sure you're going to do this?"

"We have to." Sam said and pointed. "It's the Jeep Liberty by room number five." He led the others over, and as they waited by the Jeep, he walked over to the room's door. He knocked on it lightly and waited.

A few minutes later, the petite brunette opened the semi broken door. Her hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail and she wore a new pair of jeans with a black t-shirt. She tilted her head and her brown eyes filled with curiosity. "Well crap, did I have another freaky experience and miss it?"

That took Sam by surprise. "Huh?"

"Almost every time you come into contact with me, when it's not on the phone, I've usually had the shit scared out of me." Lacey shrugged as if it didn't bother her. She stuck her head out the door and noticed Dean and Bobby. "Is this an intervention?"

"What?" Sometimes she just plain confused him. He shook his head and tried to explain. "No, but we do need your car keys."

Her eyes narrowed instantly. "It doesn't go anywhere without me."

"I know, but we need the keys so we can load our stuff into it." Sam offered a small smile, hoping she'd believe him.

Lacey glanced at Dean, who looked extremely grumpy at this point, then back at Sam. She walked away from the door and grabbed her tote bag from the bed. She rummaged in there for a moment and pulled out her keys as she walked back over to the door. But she didn't stop. She walked past Sam and to her Jeep without a word. Instead, she quietly unlocked the vehicle and then put her bag in the backseat where a couple of other new looking bags sat on the floor.

She turned back toward the men and held out the keys. "So who's driving my little step-child?"

Dean snatched the keys out of her hand and she gave him a dirty look, which he returned in full.

Sam groaned. It wasn't starting out well.

It took about an hour to load up all their gear into the back of the jeep, but when it was done, everyone but Dean seemed relieved. He was wary about the way Lacey had locked her eyes onto the weapon arsenal.

Her eyes nearly shined. "God, you boys have the best toys."

"Yes we do." Dean said with a smirk, and he couldn't resist saying the next part. "That's why the women always beg for more."

Her expression darkened as she slid into the backseat. "And here I thought they just begged for new batteries." Just in case Dean thought about strangling her, she slammed the door shut and smiled sweetly at him from the safety of her car.

Bobby placed a hand on Dean's shoulder. "Try not to kill her on the first day."

"Second day it is then." Dean glowered as Sam joined them. "We ready to go?"

"Everything's packed up." Sam said. "We'll just grab some gas and get out of here."

"You boys be careful." Bobby warned. "You don't know what's got you in their sights this time."

Sam nodded. "We will. Thanks for everything. If you hear anything about dad…"

"I'll call. Don't worry. Get out of here." Bobby ushered them toward the car and walked away.

The Winchesters got into the jeep without much of a fuss, but Lacey glanced up from her Fangoria magazine with a curious look. She watched Dean as he moved the seat. When he was settled, he looked at the stereo with a scowl. "You don't have a cassette player."

"Some people do live in the modern world, Dean." Sam said dryly. "I told you to update your collection."

"Hey. I'm driving. My choice."

Lacey sighed and opened the compartment between the front seats. Inside were a multitude of cds. "There."

"Let me guess, chick music, right?" Dean watched for her reaction in the rearview mirror.

The woman's eyes narrowed and she started looking through the cds while mumbling various profanities that should have been illegal in most of the country. She finally found what she was looking for and placed the cd into the stereo. "The car moves if you turn the ignition on."

Sam watched as the pair glared daggers at each other. He groaned inwardly as Dean started the car up.

Lacey turned the stereo on and practically threw herself back into her seat. She was acting like a brat now, but she didn't care. Chick music indeed.

The sound of Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid' filled the jeep.

Dean looked so surprised that he didn't bother to hide it. Not that Lacey noticed, since had returned her attention to her magazine. She was also plotting various ways to drive Mr. Testosterone crazy.

If there were more people around, Sam would have been willing to start a pool on who would kill the other first. This is going to be a long ride, he thought to himself.

A very long ride.