[1x01; The Pilot]
Throwing the damp motel towel on the dresser, Dean wandered over to the bed he didn't plan on using to zip open his duffel of clothes. He quickly pulled on one of the last clean pairs of jeans he had and a black t-shirt that he sniffed to make sure didn't stick. He had only managed to slip his necklace over his head when there was a knock at the door.
Dean paused, narrowing his eyes over at the door covered in chipped red paint. He had just paid for the room and didn't plan on staying more than a couple of hours. He didn't think that gave anyone that much time to know that he was in town. Besides, the only two people he knew at Stanford didn't even know he was there.
He grabbed his gun and held it cautiously behind his back, peeking through the peephole. He didn't see much, just the top of a girl's head. And then the girl stepped onto her tip toes and waved at him, knowing that he was watching her.
"Trick or treat!"
Dean pressed his lips together and set his gun back down on the table. He opened the door and set his unimpressed expression on the younger woman, who smiled sweetly at him.
"What are you doing here, Julia?"
Julia Petersen didn't drop her smile as she slipped past him into the motel room. Dean rolled his eyes, already exasperated with her, and shut the door. He looked her up and down as she paced around the room, studying the furniture with a curious gaze.
She was dressed in a black t-shirt with a ridiculous cartoon ghost on it and khaki shorts that made her legs seem longer than they actually looked. When she turned toward the bathroom, he got a look at her ass and almost groaned before controlling himself.
This is Julia, he reminded himself, cute little Julia who is seven fucking years younger than you.
"Julia."
"Right," Julia shook her head to focus and turned back to Dean. "I was looking for some candy but I guess someone's not in the mood for Halloween."
"Halloween's stupid."
"Yeah, I know," Julia rolled her eyes and wandered over to his duffle bag. "All you Winchesters are the same."
"Woah, hey," Dean rushed toward her and pulled her hands away from his clothes. "Keep your hands to yourself, Junior."
"Sorry, I forgot about the weird boundaries you have," Julia gave him an innocent smile and sat on the bed.
"They're not weird. Everyone has them."
"Not me."
"That's cause you're crazy," Dean playfully snapped at her
"That's true," she conceded. "Uh, what was your question again?"
Dean sighed impatiently. It had been almost a year since he had seen Julia and he was already getting annoyed with her. He wouldn't say that she was annoying all the time but she was a kid. A kid who never stopped talking, was always distracted, used sarcasm as a second language, and the human embodiment of sunshine.
"What are you doing here," he repeated. "and how the hell did you find me?"
"Oh, I tracked your phone," Julia informed him. "and I'm here because Dad left me a message to find you."
"Luke told you to find me?" Dean asked thoughtfully.
If Luke had asked his youngest daughter to find Dean, he probably knew about his dad being missing. Why else would he want Julia to find him? She was already with Sam so it wasn't like she needed protection.
"Yup."
"Well, what'd he say?"
"He said that John was missing and that you needed my help to find him," Julia informed him, scratching her cheek nervously. He caught her tell, having experience from over the years.
"You're lying," he pointed out; she pouted. "Seriously, Julia. Come on."
"I'm not lying about that," Julia stated honestly. "but…I did kind of have a bad feeling."
"What kind of bad feeling? Like you ate something bad for lunch or you forgot to do your taxes?" Dean raised his eyebrows.
Julia's smile slipped from her face. "The kind of feeling where I knew I needed to find you. My dad's message just confirmed it."
Dean appraised her, pressing his lips together. When she was growing up, Julia had bad feelings all the time. There was one time that she knew that her older sister, Beth, had broken her arm and when he used to indulge Sam and Julia and play hide and seek with them, she would find him every time without fail. It was common knowledge that she had some kind of sixth sense but no one really talked about it.
"Okay," he accepted her answer. "Is that it?"
"That's it," Julia nodded, a smile back on her face. "What time were you going to talk to Sam? I wouldn't wait long because we're going out tonight. Well, maybe it would be best if you waited to talk to him until after he was drunk. He might be more likely to hear you out. It's gonna be hard to convince him to go with us but—"
"Hold your horses, Junior," Dean cut her off. "I already had a plan."
"And that is?"
"Private."
Julia fixed him with an unimpressed stare. "If you break into my apartment I'm gonna kill you."
"I won't break into your apartment," Dean rolled his eyes. "I'm not a heathen."
Julia hummed, giving him a doubtful look.
"Okay, anything else you needed?" Dean sighed.
"Nope," Julia jumped up from the bed walked toward the door. "I'll be packed and ready by the time you come to get us."
"Sure thing," Dean nodded sarcastically. "Now leave."
"Oh, one more thing—"
"Nope. Bye," Dean gently pushed her out of the room and shut the door before she could finish what she was going to say.
"Dean!"
Julia heard the crash out in the living room and sighed, shaking her head as she finished shoving a pair of boots into one of her duffle bags. She had warned Dean not to break into the apartment and he had said he wouldn't but he lied to her face. She had to start getting better at detecting lies, especially if she was gonna be trained to be a hunter.
She was actually excited to go on the road with Dean. She had wanted to be a hunter for a long time and it had been years and her father still hadn't trained her like he trained her older sister, Abby. He had told her to get an education, which she did, and then they'd see. Well, it was now that time and she was itching to learn everything.
Her family had always been in the business of hunting supernatural creatures. Her father's side, the Alexanders, were a well-known family in the world of the supernatural, as the family had a special talent for getting rid of demons. Her mother's side of the family—the Petersens—were famous, too, though not for the same reason.
Her mother's family owned Petersen Sports Co., a sports store that catered to regular citizens who needed soccer balls and football pads but also to hunters who needed salt rounds, holy water, and all the guns and knives they could buy. The secret hunter part of the store also provided ways to get ahold of other hunters and provided lawyers in case something went south during a hunt. It was a family business, with her older brother Levi as head of sales, Beth and her husband—Taylor—as lawyers for the company, and her Aunt Maggie as CEO.
Either way, she was a bit of a legacy. And, since Abby was the only child out of the four who had gone into the hunting business so far, Julia had to step up.
Julia finished packing by setting her backpack on top of her other bags and left the room. As soon as she entered the hallway, she ran into Jess, Sam's girlfriend and one of her closest friends.
"Jules, I think Sam's fighting off a robber," Jess said hurriedly, cheeks flushed. "Should we call the police?"
"No, no, it's fine," Julia hurried to assure her. "Sam and I were expecting someone."
"At one in the morning?"
"…Yes," Julia laughed awkwardly. "Come on, I'll show you."
Jess nodded and by the time they entered the living room, the fighting between Sam and Dean had stopped. Julia flipped on the lights in the living room, illuminating the Winchester brothers so she and Jess could see them clearly.
"Sam?" Jess called her boyfriend's name, looking wearily between him and his older brother.
"Jess, hey," Sam sighed and introduced her to Dean. "Dean, this is my girlfriend, Jessica."
"Wait," Jess paused, giving Julia a curious look; Julia nodded. "your brother, Dean?"
Dean grinned sleazily at her, his eyes flitting up and down Jess' model figure. She wasn't dressed the most modestly but it was nighttime and Julia's usual pajamas showed just as much skin.
"I love the Smurfs," Dean complimented her, gesturing to the low-cut top Jess was wearing. "You know, I gotta tell you, you are completely out of my brother's league."
Julia rolled her eyes while Jess gave him an unimpressed smile. "Just let me put something on."
"No, no, I wouldn't dream of it," Dean shook his head coyly. "Seriously."
"Dean, stop being a creep," Julia sighed, smirking at the annoyed look he sent her.
"Mind your own, Junior," he snarked at her and then addressed Jess again. "Anyway, I've gotta borrow my brother and this dwarf here—" Julia scoffed in offense. "—to talk about some private family business. Nice meeting you."
"No," Sam objected, walking over to Jess' other side, wrapping an arm around her. "No, whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of her."
Dean looked over to Julia and she shrugged, giving him the choice of whether or not he would divulge what was going on. He must have decided that he would just tell Sam anyway because he gave in.
"Okay," he nodded. "Um, Dad hasn't been home in a few days."
"So, he's working overtime on a Miller-Time shift," Sam shrugged, not worried about his estranged father. "He'll stumble back in sooner or later."
Dean pressed his lips together and looked at his feet for a brief second before looking back at Sam. "Dad's on a hunting trip," he elaborated. "and he hasn't been home in a few days."
Sam's face went blank like it usually did when Julia brought up their families and what they did for a living.
"Jess, excuse us."
"What did Dean mean by his dad being on a hunting trip?" Jess asked as Julia tied her hair up in a messy bun and packed her toiletries that she had almost forgotten. "Sam seemed pretty upset about it."
"Well, John Winchester had always been a fan of hunting," Julia sighed. "Big game, as far as I know. Usually he gets drunk and passes out for a few days before heading back home."
Jess made an indignant noise. "Charming."
"Yeah, no kidding," Julia agreed, giving her an amused smile. "That's John, all right."
"Poor Sam," Jess sighed as they moved back to Julia's room; Julia made a noise of agreement. "So, why do you have to go with them again?"
"My dad called earlier and asked me to," Julia informed her. "I found Dean earlier today and it seems like he's really concerned."
"Well, how long are you gonna be gone?" Jess' eyes scoured over Julia's two duffle bags and backpack. "You're packed for a long time."
"I'll be back by Christmas," she assured the blonde. "and Sam will be home in time to make his interview. I'll make sure of it."
Jessica sighed heavily but nodded, knowing that Sam would probably give in and go with his brother and Julia for the weekend.
"Just be safe, okay?" she requested. "For me?"
"Course I will," Julia gave her a quick hug and grabbed one of her duffle bags, along with her backpack. "I'll send Sam up, okay?"
"Okay," Jess nodded. "Bye, Jules."
"See you later, Jess."
Julia left the apartment and made her way down the stairs, through the gate, and to the parking lot where she assumed Dean parked. She spotted the two giants across the lot and quickly approached them just as Dean was convincing Sam to listen about the case John was hunting.
Dean nodded at her in greeting and grabbed her bag, dropping it onto the concrete before unlocking his trunk. He pulled up the flap that hid the weapons underneath and began rummaging through the various guns, spell ingredients, knives, and other things necessary for hunting.
"Where the fuck did I put that thing?" Dean mumbled, looking for something.
Julia and Sam exchanged a pointed look, knowing that Dean was a slob for the most part, and waited patiently for Dean to grab whatever he was looking for.
"So, when your dad left, why didn't you go with him?" Julia asked him curiously.
"I was working my own gig," Dean answered. "Some voodoo thing down in New Orleans."
Sam raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourself?"
Dean gave him a pointed look. "I'm twenty-six, dude," he located a manila folder and pulled it out of the trunk, grabbing some papers that he had printed off. "All right, here we go. So, Dad was checking out this two-lane blacktop just outside of Jericho, California."
"About a month ago, this guy went missing," he continued, handing some of the articles to Sam and the rest to Julia. "They found his car but he vanished, completely M.I.A.."
Sam scanned the article on top of his pile. "So maybe he was kidnapped."
"This article is from April," Julia spoke up, showing Sam the articles she had been going through. "And this one is from December of '04."
"There's one for '03, '98, '92," Dean added. "ten of them over the past twenty years. All men, all same five mile stretch of road. It started happening more and more, so Dad went to go dig around. That was about three weeks ago. I hadn't heard from him since, which is bad enough, but," he pulled a recording device out of the trunk. "then I get this voicemail yesterday."
He pressed play and John Winchester's voice came out of the small speaker. "Dean…something big is starting to happen. I think it's serious. I need to try and figure out what's going on. It may…Be very careful, Dean. We're all in danger."
"You know there's EVP on that?" Sam looked to Dean.
Dean smiled, pleased. "Not bad, Sammy. Kinda like riding a bike, isn't it?"
Sam shook his head while Julia chuckled.
"All right, I slowed the message down, ran it through a gold wave, took out the hiss, and this is what I got…" he pressed play again.
It was a woman's voice this time. "I can never go home."
Julia shivered at the creepy voice while Dean looked at Sam expectantly.
"Never go home," Sam repeated thoughtfully.
Dean nodded and set the recording device back into the trunk, along with the articles he had collected. He threw Julia's bag in, shut the trunk, and leaned on it, giving Sam his version of a guilt trip and puppy-dog eyes.
"You know, in almost two years, I've never bothered you or asked you for a thing."
Sam sighed, quickly giving in. "All right, I'll go. I'll help you find him."
Dean smiled happily.
"But I have to get back first thing Monday," Sam informed him, turning away to walk back to his apartment. "Just wait here."
"What's first thing Monday?" Dean called after him
"I have an interview," Sam told him.
"What, a job interview?" Dean shrugged. "Skip it."
"It's a law school interview," Sam said proudly. "and it's my whole future on a plate."
"Law school?" Julia saw that Dean looked a little impressed.
Sam nodded. "So, we got a deal or not?"
Dean didn't say anything but Sam got the gist that he agreed with him. Julia told him to bring down her last bag as he ran off to the apartment stairs, getting a wave of confirmation in return.
"How many damn bags do you need, anyway?" Dean asked Julia as she turned toward him with a happy smile.
"Three," she told him simply. "Clothes, shoes, toiletries, books, schoolwork, computer."
"Jesus Christ," Dean sighed as he stood from his position against the Impala's trunk and started walking to the driver's seat. "You're in the back, shortcake."
Julia grumbled, already annoyed with the short jokes, and slipped into the backseat. She pulled her pillow into her chest and snuggled into it, getting ready for the long drive to Jericho.
The breeze was cool and welcoming as they stopped at a gas station, just outside of Jericho, California. It was still early in the morning, around seven, but all three of them were already up. Dean was inside, getting some things to eat and drink while Sam went through Dean's cassette collection and Julia read through her emails.
"Did you see these, J?" Sam asked her, sorting through the cardboard box the cassettes were kept in. "He's got cassettes. I don't think he's heard of a CD before."
"Uh, Dean doesn't like change, remember?" Julia shrugged. "It's not really surprising he has every old white man's collection of music."
Sam laughed and continued his search. Eventually, Dean came out of the gas station, carrying a plastic bag of goodies he had scored.
"Want breakfast?" he asked them as he started pumping gas.
"No, thanks," Sam mumbled.
"Oh, did you get the—?"
"Cherry cheese Danish and apple juice," Dean cut Julia off, slipping them through her open window.
"Thanks!" Julia immediately tore open the Danish, taking a large bite out of it.
"So, how'd you pay for that stuff?" Sam asked cautiously. "You and Dad still running credit card scams."
"Yeah, well, hunting ain't exactly a pro-ball career," Dean excused himself, finishing with the gas. "Besides, all we do is apply. It's not our fault they send us the cards."
"Yeah and what names did you write on the application this time?"
"Uh," Dean slipped into his seat. "Burt Aframian and his son, Hector. Scored two cards out of the deal."
Sam scoffed. "Sounds about right," he shook his head. "I swear, man, you've gotta update your cassette-tape collection."
"Why?"
"Because they're cassette tapes," Julia spoke up, finished her breakfast with a sip of apple juice. "And then there's the music itself."
"Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Metallica," Sam listed the tapes he had been through. "It's the greatest hits of mullet rock."
"Ooh, good one," Julia giggled.
Dean gave them annoyed looks, not liking the fact that they were gaining up on him, and grabbed the Metallica tape from the box. "Well, house rules, Sammy," he put the tape in the stereo. "Driver picks the music, shotgun—and backseat—shut their cakeholes."
Julia rolled her eyes while Sam gave Dean an exasperated look.
"You know, Sammy is a chubby twelve-year-old," he reminded Dean as the tape started, not fond of his childhood nickname. "It's Sam, okay?"
"Sorry, I can't hear you!" Dean said loudly, a cheeky smile on his face. "The music's too loud!"
Julia laughed and leaned forward so her chin rested on the seat between the brothers. "Don't worry, Sam, you weren't chubby when you were twelve."
Sam gave her a flat look. "Thanks, J."
Julia winked at him and leaned back in her seat. While Dean drove closer to Jericho, Sam took the time to call the hospital and the morgue in town to see if there was anyone matching John's description. It was only when they were five miles out of town that he got off the phone.
"All right," he sighed. "so, there's no one matching Dad at the hospital or the morgue. So, that's something, I guess."
Dean raised his eyebrows and nodded. Julia shut her Bible, as she had started to read Romans for her New Testament class, when they came upon the bridge that went into Jericho. There was what looked to be an abandoned car, cop car ahead with its lights on, and a couple of police officers milling about.
"Check it out," Dean pointed the scene out to Sam and Julia.
He pulled to a stop at the side of the road and leaned over to the passenger side of the car, opening the glovebox and pulling out a box. The box contained numerous fake FBI badges with Dean and John's names on them; Dean picked a federal marshal badge out of the box and smirked at Sam and Julia.
"Let's go."
Julia didn't think that plaid and jeans—and in her case, a t-shirt and shorts—were the best clothing they could be wearing while they pretended that they were agents of the law She didn't even have a badge, nor did Sam, and they were all kind of young to be federal marshals. Nevertheless, she got out of the car and followed Sam and Dean over to the police officers on the bridge.
"All right, first lesson," Dean quickly looked back at Julia. "Stay quiet and observe."
Julia fought the urge to roll her eyes and smiled brightly at him, acting like she was zipping her lips. Dean sighed heavily and continued on, giving Sam a pointed look that Julia caught but didn't react to.
As they got closer to the bridge, they saw that the officers had search and rescue down in the river, looking for the missing man.
"No sign of struggle, no footprints, no fingerprints," one of the officers told his partner. "Spotless. It's almost too clean."
The other officer nodded. "So, this kid, Troy, he's dating your daughter, isn't he?"
"Yeah."
"How's Amy doing?"
"She's putting up missing posters downtown," the first officer informed him, shaking his head.
"You fellas had another one like this just last month, didn't you?" Dean announced their presence, raising his voice so the officers could hear him.
The second officer looked toward them, straightening up so he stood taller. "And who are you?"
Dean held up his badge and quickly closed it before the officer had a good look. "Federal marshals," he gestured between himself and Sam before pointing back at Julia. "Intern."
"You two are a little young for marshals, aren't you?" the officer asked suspiciously.
Ha! Julia thought. I knew it.
Dean chuckled. "Thanks, that's awfully kind of you," he walked over to the victim's car. "You did have another one just like this, correct?"
"Yeah, that's right," the officer confirmed. "about a mile up the road. There have been others before that."
"So, this victim, you knew him?" Sam asked him.
The officer nodded. "A town like this, everybody knows everybody."
Julia noticed Dean gesturing for her; she left Sam's side and walked around the car where he was standing. He pointed into the car, mumbling for her to take a look to see if she found anything.
She did as she was told, searching the front seats and dashboard of the car as best as she could while not touching anything. She didn't see anything particular; no blood, scratches in the leather, or dirt on the floorboards. Like the officer said, it was spotless.
"Any connection between the victims, besides that they're all men?" Dean spoke up.
"No, not as far as we can tell."
"So, what's the theory?" Sam wondered.
"Honestly, we don't know," the officer shrugged. "Serial murder, kidnapping ring…"
"Well, that is exactly the kind of crack police work I'd expect out of you guys," Dean commented with a scoff. Julia looked over at him in shock while he winced, Sam having stomped painfully on his foot.
"Thank you for your time," Sam told the police officer with a gracious nod.
Julia hurried to his side as the three of them started walking hurrying off the bridge. Once they were a few feet away from the Impala, Dean took the opportunity to slap the back of Sam's head.
"Ow!" Sam hissed. "What was that for?"
"Why'd you have to step on my foot?" Dean retorted.
"Why do you have to talk to the police like that?"
Dean narrowed his eyes at Sam and stepped forward, cutting him and Julia off so they couldn't walk any further. "Come on, they don't really know what's going on," he stated. "We're all alone on this. I mean, if we're going to find Dad, we've got to get to the bottom of this thing ourselves."
Julia's eyes swept past the brothers, wincing when she saw three older men walking toward them. She cleared her throat loudly, getting Dean and Sam's attention; Dean whipped around to face the men himself.
"Can I help you three?" the man who looked to be the sheriff asked them sternly.
"No, sir, we were just leaving," Julia shot them a dazzling smile. The sheriff himself almost melted in her presence while the FBI agents walked past Sam and Dean to go question the police themselves.
"Agent Mulder, Agent Scully," Dean nodded at the agents as he grabbed Julia's arm and pulled her past the sheriff; Sam followed them. "Nice work, shortcake."
"I have one of those smiles, I guess," Julia shrugged sheepishly as she slid into her seat.
Dean scoffed. "I guess you do."
Dean, Sam, and Julia walked through the town square, searching for the girl they overheard the police officers talk about. Amy was her name and she was the victim's girlfriend who was hanging missing posters up over town.
It wasn't hard to find the girl, especially in a town this small. The police officer had been telling the truth when he said that they knew everyone around here.
"I bet that's her," Dean pointed to a young brunette hanging up posters outside of a post office. They approached her carefully, trying not to scare her off. "You must be Amy."
Amy had to be only a couple years younger than Julia and around the same height. She was dressed in dark clothing and had dark make-up on like she was taking grieving to a whole other level.
"Yeah," the girl confirmed.
"Troy told us about you," Dean went with the easiest story he could come up with and introduced himself, Sam, and Julia. "We're his uncles—I'm Dean, this is Sammy—and our little sister, Julia."
Amy gave him a skeptical look and started walking away. "He never mentioned you."
Dean quickly followed her. "Yeah, that's Troy, I guess. We're not around much, we're up in Modesto."
"So, we're looking for him, too," Sam took over; Amy stopped walking to look up at him. "and we're kinda asking around."
"Hey," a girl Amy's age walked up to her. "are you okay?"
"Yeah," Amy assured her.
"Do you mind if we ask you a couple questions?" Sam asked her politely.
It wasn't hard to say yes to Sam's puppy-dog eyes so Amy agreed to answer some questions for them. They settled at a nearby diner and on the walk over, Dean quietly answered some of the questions Julia had for him. He informed her about what kind of questions to ask people—like whether they noticed any cold spots or anything strange that occurred around them.
He had to admit, despite her ADHD, Julia was a quick learner. She soaked the information in like a sponge and it impressed him a little bit.
"I was on the phone with Troy," Amy informed them once she and her friend were settled at a table with Dean, Sam, and Julia. "He was driving home. He said he could call me right back and…" she hesitated sadly. "He never did."
"He didn't say anything strange or out of the ordinary?" Sam took over the questioning, seeming to have a better response than Dean did.
"No," Amy shook her head. "Nothing that I can remember."
"I like your necklace," Julia suddenly spoke up, pointing to the pentagram around Amy's neck.
Amy sadly smiled down at the charm. "Troy gave it to me," she sniffled and laughed a little. "Mostly to scare my parents with all that devil stuff."
Julia grinned at her. "Actually, it means the opposite," she corrected her, recalling some of the information she had learned in one of her classes. "A pentagram is protection against evil. It's really powerful if you believe in that kind of thing."
Dean pursed his lips at her, unimpressed with her change of discussion. "Okay, thanks, Unsolved Mysteries," he snapped at her, earning a frown in return, before addressing the girls, "Here's the deal, ladies, the way Troy disappeared, something's not right. So, if you heard anything…"
Amy and her friend exchanged hesitant looks that Dean caught.
"What is it?"
"Well, it's just—" Amy's friend, Rachel, started. "I mean, with all these guys going missing, people talk."
"What do they talk about?" Sam and Dean asked at the same time.
"It's kind of this local legend," Rachel sighed. "This one girl, she got murdered out on Centennial, like, decades ago. Well, supposedly, she's still out there. She hitchhikes and whoever picks her up—well, they disappear forever."
Dean and Sam exchanged knowing looks. Not all myths were based on fact, but most of them were. If there was a local legend around town, there had to be some truth to it—even if some of the details were blurred.
It was nighttime by the time Julia, Dean, and Sam headed back to the bridge on Centennial Highway. After getting some information at the library about the so-called hitchhiker the girl was talking about at the diner, they headed there to take a look around. The bridge was much spookier at night, especially once they found out about this mysterious hitchhiker.
The article they had found was about Constance Welch, who committed suicide at the bridge in the eighties. She took a dive into the river and drowned only an hour or so after both of her kids died in the bathtub. Her husband had said that she just couldn't handle her grief.
After Dean parked the impala on one side of the bridge, the three of them walked the length of it. Julia bit her lip nervously as she looked around, hoping that this spirit wouldn't just appear out of nowhere. Then again, she wanted the training, so some of her nerves were from anticipation.
"So," Dean walked over to the ledge of the bridge, looking down at the black river below. "this is where Constance took the swan dive."
Sam nodded and leaned against the railing beside him. "So, you think Dad would have been here?"
"Well, he's chasing the same story and we're chasing him."
Julia wasn't assured by Dean's statement. "What now?"
"Now we keep digging until we find him," Dean informed her, his eyes darting toward Sam. "It might take a while."
"Dean, I told you, I've gotta get back by—" Sam started to remind him but Dean cut him off with a nod.
"Monday," he recalled somewhat sourly. "Right, the interview."
"Yeah."
"Yeah, I forgot," Dean lied. "You're really serious about this, aren't you? You think you're just gonna become some lawyer and marry your girl?"
"Maybe," Sam shrugged. "Why not?"
"Does Jessica know the truth about you?" Dean started to goad him, irritated and a little jealous that Sam could leave hunting so easily. "I mean, does she know about the things you've done?"
"No, and she's not ever going to know."
"Well, that's healthy," Dean's tone was dripping with sarcasm. "You can pretend all you want, Sammy, but sooner or later you're going to have to face up to who you really are."
Dean turned and started walking away, knowing that he pushed his little brother's buttons. He was right; Sam started following him at an angry pace while Julia hovered nervously at the same spot by the railing. The conversation was none of her business and even though she was definitely going to eavesdrop, that didn't mean she was going to interrupt.
"And who's that?" Sam stomped after Dean.
"You're one of us."
"No," Sam's voice was sharp as he caught up with his brother, staring down at him with a glare. "I'm not like you. This is not going to be my life."
Dean paused to confront him. "You have a responsibility to—"
"To Dad and his crusade?" Sam scoffed. "If it weren't for pictures, I wouldn't even know what Mom looks like and what difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, Mom's gone and she isn't coming back."
Dean lunged at Sam, grabbing him by the collar and pushing him against the railing on the other side of the bridge. Julia gasped softly and started to rush over, practically feeling the rage in Dean's veins.
"Dean!"
There was a long pause as Julia gently touched his elbow. Dean calmed down a little bit and quietly warned Sam, "Don't talk about her like that."
He roughly let go of Sam's collar and brushed off Julia's hand, turning to walk back to the Impala. He stopped in his tracks, seeing a woman dressed in a white dress standing on top of the railing of the bridge, her dress blowing in the wind.
"Sam, Jules…"
Julia gawked at the woman as she looked over, made direct eye contact with both of the Winchesters, and jumped down into the river. Dean, Sam, and Julia took off running to where the woman jumped, hearing no splash and seeing no one down in the river.
"Where is she?" Julia asked loudly, her nerves wracked.
"I don't know," Sam shook his head, his eyes still searching the water below them.
The sound of an engine roaring caught their attention. Julia looked over, her eyes widening in horror when she saw that the Impala had started up with no help. She looked over at Dean in confusion, sincerely hoping that it was just a carjacker and not the spirit messing with them.
"What the fuck?"
'Who's driving your car?" Sam asked Dean.
Dean simply reached into his jeans and pulled out his car keys.
"Oh, no," Julia whimpered.
Whoever—or whatever—was in the Impala pressed on the gas. The car sped forward, going way too quickly, and started driving toward them. Sam grabbed Julia's arm and urged her to run as he and Dean took off running.
Julia ran sometimes when she had the time but it was nothing like running for your life. She had adrenaline pumping through her veins as she sped up to keep up with the brothers, almost overtaking Dean. The car was too fast, however, and they had to jump.
Dean vaulted over the railing and dove into the river. As Sam jumped, too, Julia ran behind him and, before she could even process what she was doing, grabbed his arm to keep him from falling.
Sam looked up at her in surprise as she grunted, half of her body practically hanging off the railing so she could keep him from dropping into the water below.
"Oh, my God, you're so heavy!"
Sam scrambled to reach up, grabbing the bottom of the railing so some of his weight relieved her. He easily climbed up with Julia's help; once he was back on his feet and Julia was wincing at the strain in her muscles, they looked into the river to see if Dean was okay.
"Dean?"
"Dean, are you alive?"
"Dean!"
"Are you okay?"
"Dean?" Sam and Julia chorused together.
They heard an annoyed groan before, "What?"
"Hey, are you all right?" Sam called down to him, relieved that his brother hadn't drowned in the nasty-looking river.
Dean crawled onto the muddy bank and made an okay gesture. "I'm fucking super."
Julia broke into a relieved snicker and Sam chuckled, growing amused and joining in
They didn't stay at the bridge long after Dean pulled himself off the bank and walked back up to the highway. He didn't waste time waving the other two into the car so they could drive back to town and get a motel room for the night.
Once at the closest motel, Dean took a few minutes to check out the Impala for any damage.
"Everything okay with Baby?" Julia asked him tentatively, wrinkling at the horrible smell wafting off his muddy hair and clothes.
"Yeah, whatever she did to it seems fine now," Dean sighed and shut the hood. "That Constance chick, what a bitch!"
Sam smiled at him, amused. "Well, I guess she doesn't want us digging around," he commented; Dean scoffed in agreement. "So, where's the job gonna take us now?"
Dean huffed and threw his arms into the air, frustrated. At the same time, Julia gagged, the smell coming from the mud covering Dean making her feel nauseous.
The brothers looked at her expectantly and she shrugged, covering her nose. "You should take a shower," she advised Dean. "You really stink."
Dean glared at her. "Thanks for that, Junior."
Julia gave him a sweet smile as he rolled his eyes and Sam chuckled. Dean pulled out his wallet and started toward the motel office, Sam and Julia dutifully following after him. Once at the front desk, he threw his credit card on the counter.
"One room, please."
The old man working the desk gave Dean a reluctant look-over and then grabbed the card, reading the name on the front. "You guys having a reunion or something?"
Sam furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"I had another guy, Burt Aframian," the man informed them. "He came and bought out a room for the whole month."
Julia looked at Sam and Dean, surprised, while Dean made an expression that told her that he was thinking he should have known his dad would rent out a room. Sam quickly made an excuse that they were coming to check on their father while Dean paid for another room.
Once they had their room key, the three of them went straight to the room that John rented out, picking the lock. Sam yanked Dean into the room after him and Julia and firmly shut the door.
Julia looked around the room, her eyes wide. The room was an absolute mess that made her skin itch with clothes all over the place, numerous papers taped to one of the walls, and old food sitting around. Dean turned on the lamp closest to him so they'd have more light to look around, picking up a half-eaten burger on the table below it.
He sniffed it curiously and silently gagged at the rank smell while Sam and Julia stepped over the salt ring on the floor to get a better look at the walls. "I don't think he's been here for a couple of days."
"Salt, cat's-eye shells," Sam listed as he looked at the salt on the floor. "He was worried. Trying to keep something from coming in."
In the back of her mind, Julia remembered that salt was like a barrier for all sorts of supernatural creatures, but at the moment her focus was on the papers taped to the wall. There were a bunch of articles about the disappearances over the last decade, as well as some local lore that he dug up.
"What have you got here?" Sam walked over to her.
Julia wrinkled her nose as Dean came over to take a closer look as well, and said, "Centennial Highway victims."
"I don't get it," Dean mumbled. "I mean, different men, different jobs, ages, ethnicities…There's always a connection, right?"
Julia gave him a questioning look. "So, what do these guys have in common?"
Dean shrugged at her and Julia frowned, looking back at the profiles John had made for the victims.
"Dad figured it out," Sam spoke up, having moved across the room where more papers were taped on the wall.
"What do you mean?"
"He found the same article we did," Sam gestured to the wall where the article about Constance Welch was taped. "Constance Welch, she's a woman in white."
Dean smirked as he looked back at the victims. "You sly dogs."
"What's a woman in white?" Julia wondered, her eyes darting between Sam and Dean.
"It's a sort of phenomenon," Sam explained to her. "They're spirits that have been sighted for hundreds of years in dozens of places. They're women who had husbands who were unfaithful so they suffered from temporary insanity and murdered their children. They take their own lives afterwards and become cursed, killing any unfaithful man they find."
Julia winced but mentally stored the information in her head until she could write it down in the journal she brought with her. She'd been cheated on before but she was never angry enough that she would take a life—let alone a child, if she had one.
"Wow," she breathed; Sam nodded in agreement.
"All right, so if we're dealing with a woman in white, Dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it," Dean spoke up.
"She might have another weakness," Sam suggested.
"Well, Dad would want to make sure," Dean insisted, crossing the room to stand next to Sam. "He'd dig her up. Does it say where she's buried?"
"No, not that I can tell," Sam's eyes brushed over the article on the wall. "If I were Dad, though, I'd go ask her husband if he's still alive."
"All right," Dean nodded in approval. "Why don't you, uh, you guys go to the room and see if can find the address. I'm gonna get cleaned up in here."
Dean started toward the bathroom but Sam soon stopped him. "Hey, Dean?"
Dean looked at him expectantly.
"What I said earlier, about Mom and Dad," Sam said sheepishly. "I'm sorry."
Dean held his hand in the air, stopping Sam from speaking further. "No chick-flick moments."
Sam laughed and nodded. "All right, jerk."
"Bitch," Dean mumbled in reply before heading into the bathroom.
Julia furrowed her eyebrows and walked over to Sam. "Your brother has some serious issues dealing with emotions."
Sam scoffed. "No kidding. Come on, let's go."
He turned to leave but paused when he saw a picture stuck in the full-length mirror. He pulled it out of the frame and smiled softly when he saw that it was him, Dean, and his dad more than a decade ago, sitting on the hood of the Impala.
Julia took a peek at it. "Were you born in plaid?" she joked, sensing that he needed a little cheering up; it worked and he smiled slightly. "You look happy."
"We were," Sam sighed as he pocked the picture. "sometimes."
It was noon when Dean finally woke up and started moving, having caught more than his usual four hours of sleep. He went straight into the bathroom, ignoring the happy greeting Julia sent him, and got ready for the day.
Julia rolled her eyes at the grumpy man and went back to her laptop, reading the website that Sam had showed her. There was a lot of information about women in white that Sam hadn't touched on earlier and she made sure to record it in her journal so she could look back on it later if she needed to.
It was while Sam was listening to a message from Jess he had missed earlier that Dean came out of the bathroom.
"Hey, I'm starving," he informed them as he slipped on his hand-me-down leather jacket that was a little bit too big for him. "I'm gonna grab a little something to eat in that diner down the street. You guys want anything?"
"Nah," Sam declined, continuing to listen to the message.
"Aframian's buying," Dean tried to tempt him but Sam shook his head. Dean sighed and turned to Julia with raised eyebrows. "What about you, shortcake?"
Julia bit her lip, thinking about what she wanted to eat. Dean subtly checked her out while she decided, enjoying the pajama shorts that she was lounging around in.
"A turkey club?" she smiled up at him.
Dean winked at her. "Coming right up."
Julia's heart raced and her smile fell as he left the room. That man was just too gorgeous for his own good. Dean was attractive, everyone knew that, but Julia had a crush on him when she was five years old and he was an awkward-looking preteen going through puberty. Luckily the crush went away by the time she was in high-school but if she wasn't careful, she'd be sucked in again.
Her phone dinging only seconds later. It was Dean.
"Yeah?"
"Five-oh," Dean warned her quietly; she stiffened nervously. "You and Sammy take off."
"What about you?" she asked worriedly.
"They kinda spotted me. Go find my dad, all right?"
He hung up and Julia stood up, quickly grabbing a pair of sweatpants to pull up over her shorts. "Sam, the police are here," she informed him hurriedly, grabbing her laptop and sliding into her backpack. "Let's go."
"All right," Sam nodded and stood up. "Come on, there's a window in the bathroom."
Out in the parking lot, Dean smiled charmingly at the police officers approaching him. "Problem, officers?"
"Where are your partners?" one of the officers—the one they spoke to the day before—asked.
"Partners?" he played it cool. "What partners?"
The officer nodded over at his partner and gestured to John's room and they're room. The partner made his way over to John's room first, which relieved Dean. It'd give Julia and Sam more time to get away without being noticed.
"So," the first officer looked back at him. "Fake US Marshal, fake credit cards…You got anything that's real?"
"My boobs," Dean stated matter-of-factly, flashing the officer a cheeky grin.
The officer didn't like that very much. He called over his partner and grabbed Dean, hauling him over to their cruiser. He was slammed down on the hood and cuffed behind his back but he didn't care. Sam and Julia got away and he hadn't committed any crimes—yet—so they didn't have anything on him.
He was processed quickly when they got to the station and sat in an interrogation room while the officers gathered evidence from John's room. It was an hour later that the sheriff came in, holding a box of things they had taken.
"So," the man grumped, sitting the box on the table in front of Dean. "you want to give us your real name?"
"I told you. It's Nugent," Dean insisted cockily. "Ted Nugent."
The sheriff gave him a flat look. "I'm not sure you realize just how much trouble you're in here."
"Are you talking like, misdemeanor kind of trouble or squeal-like-a-pig trouble?" Dean asked smartly.
"You got the faces of ten missing persons taped to your wall along with a whole lot of Satanic mumbo-jumbo," the sheriff informed him needlessly. "Boy, you are officially a suspect."
Dean scoffed; this guy was an idiot. There was no way that Dean was gonna go down for these murders since all they had were a bunch of printed out pictures of the victims. That's not actually enough evidence to do anything.
"That makes sense," he snarked at the man. "cause when the first one went missing in '82, I was three."
"I know you got partners," the sheriff was deterred. "One of them is an older guy. Maybe he started the whole thing. So, tell, Dean—"
Dean paused when the sheriff said his name, a cocky look on his face. The older man grabbed a book out of the box and threw it on the table in front of him. It was his dad's journal.
"—is this his?"
Dean's heart sank in his chest at the sight of the familiar, leather bound journal. His dad never went anywhere without. Everything they knew about the supernatural creatures they've come across was recorded in those pages, along with a lot of personal information that Dean didn't like them knowing. Information about his mom's death and the way he grew up wasn't something he wanted random strangers to know about.
The sheriff recognized the look on Dean's face. "I thought that might be your name," he acknowledged, walking around the table so he could open the journal. "See, I leafed through this. What little I could make out—I mean, it's nine kinds of crazy."
Dean stared passively down at the pages he flipped through, the pictures of his ancestors, his mom, him, Sam, and their hunter friends filling some of the plastic sleeves inside.
Finally, the sheriff stopped on a page toward the back. "I found this, too," he pointed at a page with Dean's name and coordinates. "Now, you're staying right here till you tell me exactly what the hell that means."
"It's my locker combination," Dean lied easily.
"Bullshit."
"I'm not lying," he insisted. "It's from years ago, when I was in high school."
The sheriff, rightfully, didn't believe him but Dean wasn't budging. He didn't know where the coordinates led to, but it had to be something important. Something that police officers or anyone who didn't know about John or the things that go bump in the night needed to see.
He questioned Dean for an hour, asking about many things. After a while, he veered the interrogation away from the coordinates and asked about his dad. He asked about Sam and Julia, too, but Dean insisted adamantly that he was alone. The sheriff didn't believe him but he didn't give a flying fuck—he wasn't a snitch. He enjoyed riling the old man up, seeing his face turn red with frustration and anger.
"I don't know how many times I gotta tell you," Dean sighed when the sheriff asked him about the coordinates again. "It's my high school locker combo."
"We gonna do this all night long?" the sheriff asked him grumpily.
A deputy poked his head into the room. "We just got a 9-1-1," he informed his superior. "Shots fired over at Whiteford Road."
The sheriff looked over at Dean. "Do you have to go to the bathroom?"
Dean gave him a weird look. "No."
"Good," the sheriff pulled handcuffs out of his belt and locked Dean to the table before leaving the room, the door shut firmly behind him.
Dean rolled his eyes and pulled the paperclip he had been eyeing from his dad's journal. He quickly set himself free and grabbed the journal, slipping it into his jacket. He waited until all the police officers left and then escaped, having the time to whistle a little tune.
"Finally," he heard a sigh as he walked out of the building. "I'm been waiting for ever."
Dean gave Julia an impressed look as she walked over to him, her arms folding across her ample chest. "You did that?" he pointed back at the station with his thumb; she nodded with a grin. "A fake 9-1-1 call. Impressive and very illegal."
"You're welcome," Julia beamed at him, pleased with his praise. "Come on, Sam went to question Joseph Welch."
"Ah," Dean nodded and walked by her side as she lead them to a car parked on the curb a block down. "Did you steal the car, too?"
"Sam taught me."
"He taught you?" he gave her a skeptical look. Even he had a couple lessons before he was successfully jacking car. Julia was good but she wasn't that good.
"Okay, he stole it for me before taking off," Julia admitted. "but I paid attention."
Dean hummed and slid into the driver's seat, starting up the car. He asked Julia to call Sam as he started driving toward Joseph Welch's house and she did it without protesting.
"Hey," Sam answered quickly.
"You taught Jules the fake 9-1-1 call?" Dean greeted him. "I'm proud, Sammy."
Sam laughed. "Well, you're welcome."
"Listen, we gotta talk."
"Tell me about it," Sam sighed. "So, the husband was unfaithful. We are definitely dealing with a woman in white and she's buried behind her old house. That should have been Dad's next stop."
Dean sighed in frustration. "Sammy, could you shut up for a second?"
"I just can't figure out why Dad hasn't destroyed the corpse yet."
"Well, that's what I'm trying to tell you," Dean stated. "He's gone. Dad left Jericho."
"What?" Sam's voice stiffened while Julia looked at Dean in shock. "How do you know?"
"I got his journal."
"He doesn't go anywhere without that thing."
"Yeah, well, he did this time."
"What's it say?"
"Ah, same old ex-Marine shit," Dean grumbled. "when he wants to let us know where he's going."
"Coordinates. Where to?"
"I'm not sure yet," Dean admitted.
"I don't understand," Sam said, frustrated. "I mean, what could be so important that Dad would just skip out in the middle of a job? Dean, what the hell is going on?"
Dean stiffened when they heard the tires screech on the other line. It sounded like Sam had stopped very quickly.
"Sam? Sam?" Dean asked frantically.
Sam didn't answer, though, and the call quickly died out. Dean tossed Julia her phone and stepped on the gas, speeding up toward the address listed on the article about Constance Welch's suicide.
"Do you think he's okay?" Julia asked him nervously.
She was worried to death about her best friend and from Dean's reaction, he could be in seriously danger. She knew Sam was faithful to Jess but maybe the spirit didn't care. Apparently some of them didn't follow rules.
"I don't know," Dean said tightly. "We just got to get there fast."
"Okay."
"You know how to shoot a gun?"
"Of course."
"Good."
They pulled up to the old Welch residence, spotting the Impala parked right out in front. Dean and Julia jumped out of the car they stole and ran toward it; Dean handed her one of the spare guns he kept in his jacket—thankful that the police didn't do a body search—and used his own to shoot out the driver's window where the woman in white was straddling Sam.
The woman in white disappeared but promptly became visible again. Julia shot without thinking, her bullet disturbing the spirit. Sam took the opportunity to start the car and speed into the house, going through the front wall.
"Oh, my God!"
"Jesus Christ, I hope he didn't hurt my car," Dean mumbled furiously as he and Julia ran into the destroyed house.
"Sam?"
"Here!"
Julia ran over to the driver's door. "You okay?" she asked, ripping the door open; Sam nodded. "Can you move?"
"Yeah," Sam breathed as Dean rushed over to them. "Can you help me?"
Dean reached in and practically pulled Sam out of the Impala, getting him to his feet. Julia wrapped one of Sam's arms around her shoulders and allowed him to settle his very heavy weight on her as Dean stepped in front of them in case Constance came back.
Constance sure didn't look very happy with them. She threw down the portrait that she was looking at and waved her hand. A heavy dresser flew toward them, painfully pinning them to the wall.
Julia squeaked in pain as she was pressed against the wall. She was officially unable to move and unable to get away from the pain that the furniture inflicted on her stomach. Dean and Sam tried pushing the dresser away from them but it wouldn't budge.
Then the lights in the house started flickering and water started pouring down the staircase. Two creepy-looking child-ghosts appeared, getting Constance's attention. She stared at them in horror and a deep sadness.
"You've come home to us, Mommy," they whispered in unison.
Julia shivered, creeped out.
The children appeared behind Constance and promptly hugged her, causing her to scream. Her body flickered for a few seconds before all three of them burst into a weird fire that had Julia turning away and disappeared.
With Constance's spirit gone, Dean and Sam were able to move the dresser away from the three of them. Julia sighed in relief now that the pressure was gone and wrapped an arm around her torso.
She was pretty sure she had bruised a couple of ribs.
My first hunting injury, she thought proudly.
"So, this is where she drowned her kids," Dean assumed, looking at the spot where the three spirits appeared.
Sam nodded. "That's why she could never go home. She was too scared to face them."
"But I fought we had to burn her corpse to kill her?" Julia spoke up, kind of confused.
There was only so much she knew about hunting but she thought you got rid of ghosts by salting and burning their corpse. Neither of those happened here.
"Sometimes you can find a spirit's and that can take care of them," Sam informed her.
"In this case it just happened to be her kids," Dean added, clapping Sam on the shoulder. "Nice work, Sammy."
Sam laughed loudly and grinned at his brother. "Yeah, I wish I could say the same for you," he mocked him. "Where were you thinking, shooting Casper in the face, you freak?"
Dean gave him an offended look.
"By the way, J, nice aim," Sam added, just to tease Dean further.
"Thanks, S," Julia grinned at him before sticking her tongue out at Dean.
"Children," Dean scoffed, shaking his head. "I'm working with children. And another thing," he warned Sam. "If you fucked up my car, I'll kill you."
It was dark almost midnight by the time they arrived back at Stanford. Sam had successfully found where the coordinates that John left them led, a place in Colorado and had turned Dean down when he offered to drive there now, wanting to go to his interview. Dean was visibly upset but he didn't argue.
Dean pulled up the apartment and parked in the lot. Sam slid out of the car and grabbed his bag from the back before leaning down to talk to Julia and Dean through the window.
"Be careful, J," Sam poked her in the forehead. "Listen to Dean, all right?"
"I will."
"And call me."
"Yes, Dad," Julia playfully rolled her eyes at him. "Say hello to Jess, would you? Love ya."
Sam winked at her and then turned to Dean, his face falling when he saw the sullen look on his brother's face. "Call me if you find him?"
Dean nodded.
"And maybe I can meet up with you later, huh?"
"Yeah, all right," Dean agreed easily. "You know, we made a hell of a team back there."
Sam smiled, his dimples popping out. "Yeah. Be careful."
Dean nodded and pulled out of the spot he had parked in. He quickly drove away from the apartment building and Julia assumed it was because he didn't want to dally and be sad about Sam's departure.
"You all right?" she asked Dean.
"I'm fine," Dean answered gruffly and changed the subject. "So, you survived your first hunt. How do you feel?"
"Good," Julia grinned. "Yeah, it was—"
She paused, scrunching up her nose as she got a bad feeling. She couldn't explain it and it felt different from the one she had about Dean but she knew something was wrong.
Dean gave her a worried look when she stopped talking. "You okay?"
"No," she shook her head. "I have a bad feeling."
As if the universe was agreeing to her statement, the radio glitched out. Dean looked at the dash, noticing that the clock had stopped working. He quickly turned the vehicle, his heart starting to race, and started driving back to Sam.
By the time they got there, the apartment was in flames and Jess was dead.