AN: I will be wrapping this up in a few more chapters. I'm not going to tell you how I'll end it or what'll happen to these three, but suffice to say they won't be skipping happily into the sunset. I will let you know that I'll make it fit in to the season storyline. Toodles, AT.
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Arkansas/Oklahoma
Just one and a half hours later, in the middle of a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon the Winchester brothers and Isabel crossed the state border into Oklahoma. Sam was feeling better now, although still driving with the window wound down and letting the cool breeze blast his tired puffy face. Isabel was in much better spirits, begrudgingly conceding that the drive had been quite scenic and so far she liked the verdant state and maybe this Dustin guy had really died of Mad Cow Disease like the paper suggested, and then they could get the hell out and continue with their road trip. Dean was in the passenger seat, his head leaning slightly against the window, as he dozed on and off.
Sam and Dean, suffering from a pounding headache and sleep deprivation respectively, had mutely agreed on no music for this particular drive, both preferring silence in their current state, but they quickly changed their minds when Isabel started singing show tunes from Oklahoma, the musical.
"Oklahoma! Where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain, and the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet. When the wind comes right behind the rain"
"What the hell are you doing?" Dean asked startled, his eyes popping open. It wasn't that she was singing loud, but so horribly off key.
"I'm singing" She said before bursting into song once more "And when we say Yeeow! Ayipioeeay! We're only sayin', you're doin' fine"
"Stop that" He said in annoyance.
"Oklahoma! Oklahoma O.K" She continued "Sing with me"
He turned around sharply and pointed a finger at her, silencing her instantly "If you don't shut up, I will make you"
"Now who's being the grumpy one, huh?" She asked wounded "Come on, you won't turn the radio on and neither one of you has spoken more than three words to me in like two hours!"
Without another word, Dean turned around in his seat again. He switched on the radio on, the volume low, and closed his eyes again, resuming his siesta. Sam looked at Isabel through the rearview mirror. She'd turned her head to look out the window at the passing scenery, a melancholy expression on her face as she sighed in defeat.
Left to wonder in her own mind, a memory popped into her head, uninvited though not entirely unwelcome. It was a memory of a happier time in her life. She had been six when her parents had loaded up the car and taken her on a family trip to visit Uncle John and her cousins. The boys were in Texas at the time and her mom said they would have to leave straight away and drive down from Illinois if they wanted to catch up with the Winchesters for Dean's eighth birthday.
Years later, when she was older and could understand, her mom would reveal that she'd gone to great lengths to get a hold of John, and it had been an even greater struggle to get him to agree to stay in Texas for a while longer until they could make it down so she could see her nephews, so Isabel could see her cousins. She realized now that all the reunions she'd had with her cousins throughout her childhood, which incidentally were few, had occurred in a similar impromptu manner; her mom tracking down her estranged brother-in-law, begging him to please stay put while they drove to the most obscure and remote places in the country to meet up with John and the boys for a day or two before they disappeared again.
This would usually happen once, sometimes twice, a year. Until her parents died; then with her mom gone, there was no one left to make the effort and no one left to pressure John into any sort of family responsibility. When John refused to accept custody of then sixteen-year-old Isabel after the death of her parents, she not only failed to take up her mother's role in keeping what was left of the family in touch, but in the midst of her depression and blind anger at being so callously abandoned, she severed all ties with her uncle and cousins, completely, refusing to even speak to any of them again for eight years. It would have been for the rest of her life if Sam and Dean hadn't turned up at her doorstep almost a month ago, refusing to leave in spite of her coldness and hostility towards them. She shook the thought off before it could regenerate those feelings of loneliness and anger within her again. That thought was unwelcome, and she'd since rebuilt that particular bridge with her cousins. Her mind drifted back to her parents and childhood. She smiled again and focused on the scenery rushing by.
She remembered Oklahoma now. They'd driven down this exact part of the state, eighteen years ago, on their way south to Texas and she remembered her mom had started to sing songs from Oklahoma! Her dad had initially complained in very much the same way Dean just had, before finally giving in and joining in with his wife. She had laughed at the pair from the back seat and begged her mom to teach her the lyrics. Before long all three in the car were singing along.
She let out a little poignant laugh as she swallowed the lump in her throat. Oh, strange how a happy memory could hurt so much! She loved these memories though, it was more than some had, she thought as her mind went to her cousins. She didn't really know exactly what kind of childhood they had, but was fairly certain none of their memories involved a jovial John rallying his sons into a spur-of-the-moment show tune sing along as they made their way to Middle-Of-Nowhere, USA, to hunt down yet another demon, or ghost, or werewolf, or whatever it was they usually hunted.
"You Ok, Bel?" Sam asked, briefly glancing back at her.
She turned away from the window and faced him "Yeah, just thinking" She said smiling "Why?"
"You just looked a little lost, that's all" He said "Like you were somewhere else"
"I was" She said then smiled brighter "But in a good place"
"We're almost there" He said with another glance her way. He momentarily worried about giving her too much time to think "Want something to do?"
"Yeah" She said eagerly, grateful for a distraction.
"How about you find the guy who was with Dustin when he died?" He suggested tentatively, holding his breath for a barrage of complaints and refusals.
"OK, Sam" She said obediently, pulling out Sam's laptop onto her lap. She started looking through all the newspaper articles about the strange death.
Sam raised his eyebrows in surprise at her uncharacteristic compliance, and he noticed even Dean was taken aback as he looked at Sam before turning to watch Isabel curiously. Sam watched her on the rearview mirror. She hadn't noticed her cousins' interest in her unusual behavior as she concentrated on the screen in front of her. He frowned as he thought of her mood swings, they were so unpredictable lately. It was impossible to know what would make her angry, what would make her sad, scared, happy, what would just slide right off of her.
"Travis Weiss was in with Dustin when he died. They work for the same construction company" She said as she read from the screen.
"Can you get an address?" Sam asked.
"Patience, my dear" She said as she typed on the keyboard "Got it!"
She grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled it down. She then pulled up a map of the area where he lived, not far from where he'd been working with the victim.
"Is it far?" Dean asked.
"Nope, only about fifteen miles" She said finally looking up at both her cousins "Look for a sign that says Oasis Plaines"
They found the place within the half hour. Travis Weiss lived about ten miles from Oasis Plaines, the new real estate development neighborhood. They pulled up across from his house and found the man in his front lawn, working on his car. They sat there for a few moments just watching him quietly.
"Well?" Dean said "If we just sit here all afternoon watching him, it's called stalking"
"I don't think we should all go down, it might make him a little anxious" Sam said.
"I'll go" Isabel offered earnestly. Her cousins looked at her unsurely "What? It's just talking, isn't it? I can do that"
"Find out where exactly Dustin died" Sam told her.
"And if he noticed anything weird" Dean added "Don't tell him who you are, if he asks, lie"
"Piece of cake" She said, opening the door to the car and stepping out "OK, here I go"
"Yeah, go on Bel, mesmerize him" Dean teased her.
She didn't turn as she walked towards Travis and he wasn't sure if she heard him until she flipped him the bird behind her back.
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She came back not five minutes later stepping into the car and directing them to the house in Oasis Plaines where Dustin had died. She told them what Travis had said about Dustin, he hadn't been acting strange at all and had no illness that he knew about. Dustin had just fallen through the hole in the ground while they'd been working, Travis went to get a rope to pull him out but when he got back, Dustin was already dead.
They pulled up to the house and noticing it was unoccupied, all three stepped out of the car and walked over, standing around the deep narrow hole in the front lawn, looking down.
"That's pretty narrow" Isabel pointed out unnecessarily.
"You're the smallest" Dean suggested as he looked at her.
"There is no way in hell I'm going down that hole" She said and took a step back to further reinforce her position on the subject.
"Hmm…looks like there's only room for one" Dean said looking at Sam as he pulled out a coin from his pocket "You want to flip a coin?"
"Dean, we have no idea what's down there" Sam said, looking down the dark hole.
"Alright, I'll go if you're scared" Dean said mockingly "Scared?"
"Flip the damn coin!" Sam snapped in irritation.
"Call it in the air, chicken" Dean said as he flipped the coin in the air.
"Don't drop me" Sam said, quickly snatching the airborne coin and jumping down into the hole. Isabel bent down to hand him a flashlight.
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"You found beetles, in a hole, in the ground?" Isabel asked once they were driving away "Wow, shocker!"
"Look at this place" Dean said as they drove through the picture perfect neighborhood "Gives me the creeps"
"What?" Sam asked looking sideways at his brother.
"Growing up in a place like this would freak me out" Said Dean.
"Why?" Sam asked, still not understanding.
"The manicured lawns, 'How was your day honey?'" Dean grimaced "I'd blow my brains out!"
"There's nothing wrong with normal" Sam said offended, he would have given anything to grow up in a place like this with his family, including his mother.
"I'd take our family over normal, any day" Dean said with a smile "Right, kitten?"
"Ever think that we are normal. That we've always been normal" Isabel said "That maybe, it's everyone else that's crazy?"
Dean nodded and looked out the window in contemplation "Yes, actually, I have" He said slowly before his gaze stopped at a sign on the side of the street. It advertised a BBQ held by realtors for prospective home owners "Hey, you guys hungry for a little BBQ?"
"I could go for a bit of BBQ" Isabel said looking at her watch. It was close to four in the afternoon.
Dean turned to Sam "How about you?" Sam glared at him "What, we can't talk to the locals?"
"Free food has nothing to do with it?" Sam asked skeptically, knowing his brother only too well.
"Of course not" Dean said in shock as he parked the car "I'm a professional"
"Let's just try to fit in, OK? " Sam pleaded as they headed up the front steps to the house.
Isabel frowned "With these people?" She asked "Why?"
"Because we can't afford to stand out" Sam said turning to her.
"You know Sam, you shouldn't compare yourself to others. People are more screwed up than you think"
They gave Larry, the realtor, a bogus story about all three being siblings and looking for a house for their dad. The man looked at the three suspiciously but in the end appeared to have bought it, letting them in and introducing them to some people at the BBQ. It wasn't long before they split up. Isabel headed over to a group of women, who were chatting at one of the tables. Sam and Dean were approached by a pretty woman who introduced herself as Lynda, Larry's sales manager, eagerly trying to encourage a purchase.
"Let me just say, we accept home owners of all race, religion, color or…sexual orientation" She said in a friendly tone.
Sam opened his mouth to protest but Dean beat him to it "Right. I'm going to go talk to Larry" He said to Sam, a twinkle in his eye "Okay, honey?" And with a light smack on Sam's butt, he left his little brother to stammer his way out of that one.
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They met up an hour later and jumped in the car again, discussing what they'd each found out. Dean told Sam and Isabel that Larry Pike had said a surveyor died from a bee sting the year before, and Sam then pointed out that Larry's son, Matt, owned a pet tarantula which he tried to use as a practical joke on Lynda, and also seemed particularly interested in bugs.
"What about you Bel?" Sam asked her "What did you find out?"
"Well, apparently…" She started excitedly as she slid forward and rested her elbows on the front seats, poking her head in between her cousins as if she was telling them a secret and they weren't the only three people in the car "Curtis O'Brian, Larry's brother-in-law is having an affair with his ex-sister-in-law. Wait, hang on…" She frowned, temporarily confused by her own story before nodding and continuing "No, yeah, that's right, his wife's sister's husband, Curtis, is having an affair with Larry's brother's ex-wife. How twisted is that? And get this…it seems the affair began two years ago before her divorce was even finalized, which raises the question of who is the father of her little girl, because rumor has it…" She said dropping her voice to a whisper and raising her eyebrows in a scandalous gesture "She looks a lot like Curtis"
Sam and Dean looked at her speechless, unsure if she was being serious or not. Dean sighed tiredly and turned back to the road.
"I meant did you find out anything about Dustin's death?" Sam asked patiently.
"No" She said casually "But then again, I didn't ask."
"Why not?" He asked, patience slipping.
"Because I don't see the point" She said "Dustin's dead, it was an accident, there's nothing to find out"
"Dean and I found out stuff" Sam argued.
"Yeah" Isabel started slowly as she looked at her cousins from the backseat "You found out Matt has a tarantula and a surveyor died from a bee sting last year. Want me to alert the media? Hey Dean, want me to start with Oprah?"
"Bite me" Dean said pulling up a driveway.
"There's something here. I know it!" Sam said with conviction turning back around in his seat. He looked at the house suddenly in front of them.
Sam and Isabel turned to Dean questioningly.
"Why are we parked here? " Isabel asked warily, though she knew what was in Dean's shady mind.
"Come on" Dean said getting out of the car "Who's gonna know?"
"We're gonna squat in an empty house?" Sam asked horrified.
"I wanna try the steam shower!" Dean said eagerly stepping out.
"Is this legal?" Isabel asked Sam in alarm.
"It's not illegal" He replied.
"You're the lawyer!" She said taking his word and following Dean into the house.
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Please, Please, Please R&R. I appreciate all reviews. If there's something about the story or the characters (well, Isabel) that you don't like, feel free to tell me. It was pointed out to me that Isabel is a little stuck up. I agree with you , she totally is. Then again, she's an only child and I feel she's got her reasons for being sometimes insensitive and using sarcasm and jokes as a defense mechanism, she's been through a lot. She's human and she needs to have flaws like everyone else, including Sam and Dean. It's no fun writing a perfect character, because they don't exist. Love constructive critisism, please keep it coming!