"Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy-"
"But I will rip your throat out with my teeth if you don't turn that off."
The music stopped and Zoe cracked open an eyelid to see the smug look of Gabriel. She closed it and rolled over on her stomach, and stared at the ceiling.
"Why are you here, Gabriel?" she asked, wondering what time it was.
"I'm bored."
The Winchesters had dropped her off at Bobby's after the shape shifter. The boys had told her that they wanted her to also have some time with Bobby too, but Zoe figured they just wanted to have their own case, to get back on their feet. Without her.
Bobby just had her reading, and keeping an eye on any hunters that came through. Zoe became very good friends with Garth, and the hunter seemed to take pride in being her friend.
Zoe groaned, "Well why don't you just go torment some poor sap?"
Gabriel shrugged, "Been there, done that."
Zoe glanced at the clock. Four in the morning. Leave it to Gabriel to arrive before the crack of dawn just because he was bored. Zoe really needed to teach Gabriel some new hobbies. Maybe stamp collecting or some time consuming hobby that could keep him busy. Rock collecting usually worked.
"Where are Things One and Two?" he asked.
Zoe frowned, and yawned, "Uh...rock ridge Colorado. Now go do...whatever it is trickster gods/archangels do when they're bored. That doesn't involve bothering their charges at ungodly hours," she added.
She could hear the archangel pout before he disappeared in with a flap of his wings. Zoe closed her eyes, and hugged her pillow before closing her eyes once more, sinking into the sweet bliss of sleep...
Only to have Bobby knock on her door, telling her to get dressed because they were heading to Colorado. Zoe groaned. First Gabriel. Now Bobby. Zoe was beginning to think she didn't wasn't going to going to get any sleep.
So with heavy eyes, and stiff movements, Zoe pulled on some proper clothes before following Bobby to the car.
"Why can't you just go yourself?" she asked, searching her play list for anything that will wake her up since she doubted Bobby would stop for a coffee break.
"Because the Sam asked for you to come too," Bobby explained, "And get yer feet off my dashboard."
Zoe huffed and lowered her feet, pocketing her phone while Taylor Swift blared into her ear drums. At one point she began to sing Shake it off, and had a discussion with Bobby regarding the lyrics which somehow ended in a heated argument of whether or not Maleficent was truly evil and the inner workings of medieval fairy social structures.
In the end, Zoe decided that she liked Bobby. He never asked too much of her, he gave her privacy, and was an all out big softie, not that he'd ever admit it though.
They arrived at an old wood mill, which Zoe immediately recognized as the one from Yellow Fever. Sam waited for them outside, sitting on the hood of the impala.
"Howdy, Sam," Bobby cheerfully greeted.
Zoe grumbled a hello while stifling a yawn. As happy as she was to see Sam, all she wanted was to sleep.
"Hey, Bobby, Zoe, he nodded to each, "Thanks for coming so quick."
"You owe me," Zoe grumbled, "Big time."
"Where's Dean?" Bobby asked, noting the absence of the louder brother.
Blessed silence, Zoe thought.
"Uh, home sick," replied Sam.
"So, have his hallucinations started yet?" Zoe asked.
Sam nodded, "Yeah, a few hours ago."
"How we doing on time?" Bobby asked.
"We saw the coroner about 8:00 a.m Monday morning, so," Sam trailed off as he counted off, "just under two hours. What about you? You find anything?"
"It's a buruburu," Zoe said, "Kill it the same way as other spirits, but this one," she paused trying to remember, "Was road hauled, right?"
Sam nodded, and Zoe frowned, she was hoping the fates would have pity on her and make it simple.
"So we'll have to scare it to death," Zoe said.
At Sam's confused look, Bobby explained, "Well, the Buruburu is born of fear. Hell, it is fear. And the lore says we can kill it with fear."
Sam asked, "How the hell we gonna do that?"
Zoe grinned, "Same way how you did it in the show. Road haul the sucker."
"Road haul?" the older men repeated.
Zoe crossed her arms, "Got a better idea, because I'm all ears."
They exchanged a look before Bobby looked through his trunk for a chain that could work, leaving Sam and Zoe alone for a bit.
"How have you been?" he asked, in an attempt to start a conversation.
Zoe shrugged, "Eh. Bobby's nice. I got a ton of books to devour on supernatural lore because there's literally nothing else to do in a small town."
Sam seemed apologetic, and Zoe added, "But Bobby's teaching me how to wield more weapons that aren't handguns and shotguns, so that's cool"
Bobby returned with a coil of iron chains etched with various symbols which Zoe assumed to be spells. At Zoe's suggestion, Sam called Dean to tell him that they found a plan, albeit a stupid plan according to Bobby, to defeat the ghost.
"Hey! So, uh, just ride out the trip, okay? You're...You're gonna be fine. We got a plan," Sam paused, to hear Dean and assured, "Uh, just a good plan, all right? Hang in there."
Bobby still didn't think it was a good plan and voiced his opinion, "This is a terrible plan."
"It's her plan," Sam defended, pointing to Zoe.
"You thought of it first," Zoe countered, "I only said it because I didn't want to spend five minutes listening to useless dialogue."
"But scare the ghost to death?" Bobby asked.
"Don't knock it till you try it," Zoe said.
Sam began to make his way towards the wood mill, while Zoe and Bobby stayed behind. Zoe would have gone, but she was still fighting sleep, proven by the fact that she was dozing off, while leaning against the car.
After a while, Bobby brought the walkie talkie to his mouth, and asked, "Any luck?"
"I don't know what's wrong, Bobby," Sam replied, "Last time he came right at us. It's almost like he's...like he's scared."
Bobby cursed silently, "So now what?"
"I guess I got to make him angry," Sam decided.
Zoe and Bobby exchanged a look, though Sam didn't enlighten them on what his plan to anger the ghost was. Until Zoe remembered something about Luther.
"He's going to rip up his drawings," Zoe said, before wincing.
Well, that was one way to get Luther's attention. An artist will not stand by and allow his work to be destroyed. Zoe knew from experience. The other guy still flinched when he saw her.
And then they heard Sam's yell, giving them the all clear. Bobby was at the wheel immediately while Zoe watched from the sidelines. She looked away when Luther was dragged past her, struggling with the chain around his neck, eyes wild with fear. The ghost dissipated into black smoke and sparks, leaving nothing behind but a rattling chain.
…
Zoe hummed along to radio music, while Sam and Bobby debriefed Dean on what happened with the buruburu. They had parked at an empty road, somewhere in the United States. Zoe had long since stopped keeping track of what state they were in.
At least the conversation outside was interesting. Sam had just finished describing what happened with some input from Bobby.
"So you guys road-hauled a ghost with a chain?" Dean asked once they where done.
It wasn't a very long description.
"Iron chain etched with spell work," Sam clarified.
Dean hummed, and took a swig of his beer, "that's a new one."
Sam shrugged, "It was what he was most afraid of. It was pretty brutal, though."
"Hella," Zoe said, tapping out the drumbeat to highway to hell.
"On the upside," Dean said, breaking the silence, "I'm still alive, so uh, go team!"
"Yeah," Sam agreed, "How you feeling, by the way?"
"Fine," Dean answered, not that anyone believed him.
Like Bobby for example. He could smell bull from a mile away, "You sure, Dean? 'Cause this line of work can get awful scary."
"I'm fine," Dean insisted, "You want to go hunting? I'll hunt. I'll kill anything."
"Aww," Zoe said turning to Sam, "he's adorable."
"I got to get out of here," Bobby declared upon finishing his beer, "You boys drive safe."
"You too, Bobby," Sam said, "And thanks, both of you."
Bobby nodded, and Zoe saluted before she sat shotgun to Bobby, waving at the boys until they where out of sight.
"Hey, Bobby."
"Yeah?"
"Can we stop for coffee?"
"No."
…
For almost the entirety of October, Zoe found herself at Bobby's, answering calls from hunters when Bobby couldn't, and generally doing absolutely nothing. The old hunter usually let her do what she wanted, a freedom that Zoe was generally unfamiliar with. Her parents rarely allowed her outside without permission or an alert of where she would be in the next five minutes.
Never before had she been given complete freedom over what she would do with her day, so like most teenagers in her situation, Zoe explored the small town when she could. Today, she was sitting in the local diner, enjoying a nice steak while reading a book she had borrowed from Bobby.
Sheriff Mills arrived about an hour after Zoe did, and spotting the teenager, she walked towards her, and slid into the seat in from of her.
"Morning," the sheriff greeted, "New to town, kid?"
Note to self, Jody Mills did not tiptoe around the issue.
Zoe shrugged, closing the book (a complete account of ghosts, banshees, and sprites) before she took a bite of her food, "Sorta."
"Where you from?" Jody asked.
It was a sort of gentle interrogation. For one, it was in public, and two, Jody had not gone full on cop. She was making it seem like a normal communication, something Zoe had seen Sam do a lot of times.
"Texas," Zoe said, examining a fry.
"Parents?"
Zoe shrugged, "Away. I'm staying with Mr. Singer. He's a friend of my dad's."
Jody raised an eyebrow, "Really? Shouldn't you be in school?"
"Graduated," Zoe answered, "and I'm 18."
The fry seemed acceptable enough, and so Zoe deemed it worthy enough to eat. Jody sipped her coffee wordlessly, before looking outside.
"How well do you know Mr. Singer?" Jody asked.
Zoe frowned for a moment, trying to think, "Erm…most of my life. He and my dad go way back. My dad used to be hunting buddies with him."
"And is he treating you alright?" Jody asked.
Zoe would have said something rude, but Jody seemed concerned, and so Zoe took pity on her and shrugged, "I'm usually in my room reading. Bobby's off doing God knows where, so I have a lot of time to myself."
Jody nodded, reached into her pocket, and took out her wallet. She gave Zoe a small card with her name and phone number. "If something happens," the sheriff said, "You call me, alright?"
Zoe nodded and made sure to put the business card somewhere safe, before excusing herself. Bobby wanted her back at the house to help him research for a hunter.
That was the first time Zoe met Sheriff Jody Mills. She would often see the sheriff in her squad car, and wave before returning to her business or the two would talk in the diner. It was a few days before Halloween when Jody decided to go to Bobby's to see how Zoe was being treated for herself.
"Morning Zoe," The sheriff greeted, "You doing fine?"
"Yup," Zoe said.
Earlier that week Gabriel had taken her on a trip to Versailles, when Bobby had gone out for a hunt. Somehow Gabriel managed to get them both a private and exclusive tour of the palace, and Zoe decided it was best not to ask how Gabriel was given free reign over a historical location.
"Everything's good at home then?" Jody asked.
"Yuppers," Zoe said, tapping her sketchbook while trying to decide how exactly she'd be able to capture the way the light shone on the hood of the car.
Thankfully, Bobby appeared, saving Zoe from any further questioning. The sheriff was allowed entry into the home, and Zoe was most definitely not eavesdropping in the hall. No, she was most definitely in her room like she was supposed to.
"What can I do for you, sheriff?" Bobby asked.
"Drop the act, Singer," the sheriff snapped, "You know why I'm here."
"The kid?" Though it wasn't so much of a question, than a statement. Zoe took a deep silent breath and leaned in.
"What about her?" Bobby demanded.
"Where are her parents?"
"Vacationing in Tahiti," Bobby replied, with thinly veiled sarcasm.
She had to suppress a snort right then and there, else blow her cover. Her parents wished they were in Tahiti, taking a long deserved break from raising five children.
"I just want to make sure she's safe," Jody stressed, "Knowing your reputation-"
"Kid can take care of herself," Bobby interrupted, "Now will that be all?"
After a very tense silence, during which Zoe retreated to her room, the police cruiser drove away, and Zoe heard Bobby move about in the floor below, grumbling about nosy cops. Well then, props to Jody for facing off Bobby Singer. Zoe couldn't wait until Jody got cooler, not that she wasn't right now, but Jody Mills post Apocalypse was a much better person than Jody Mills pre- Apocalypse. In Zoe's perspective at least.
A few days later, Zoe managed to annoy Bobby to the point that he called the Winchesters down to pick her up. Gabriel lost twenty dollars that day.