So this is a bit of a bonus scene that takes places after Blood Frenzy but before the next chapter. Let's see what the boys are up to.
In their eagerness, Sam and Dean cut the eleven hour trip from Red Lodge, Montana to Sioux Falls, South Dakota down to eight hours. They had called Bobby a little after leaving Gordon strung up in Lenore's old house, asking to see if he had knowledge of location spells or tracking spells that would work with a person's items. They'd let him know that they might have a lead on their mysterious helper, or according to Gordon and Sam, Dean's new girlfriend.
Sam had also phoned Ellen, letting her know to be on the look out for an injured female hunter looking for a patch job within Montana or the surrounding states.
They'd told Bobby about the girl who killed the shapeshifter in St. Louis, hoping he'd know of a female hunter who had gone to college in Colorado, or had a boyfriend or male family member who went to school in Colorado. There had only been two hunters who were from Colorado or born in the Mile High state but they were older men in their forties with all female relatives accounted for.
The other thing they'd asked Bobby to look up was the weapon used on the shapeshifter. It was too long to be a dagger and not long enough to be called a sword. Sam felt the one clue that would help was the fact that it was a three-sided blade, the cross section being a triangle. Bobby had agreed that it was a good clue but also bad. It was a rare trait that if anyone knew about it, they would remember something so unique but also that because of it's rareness, chances are no one would have heard about it.
On the other end, after reaching the Roadhouse and meeting Ellen for the first time, both Sam and Dean had asked her to keep a look out for their helper. They'd given the best description they could, considering it had been dark when she'd shown up at Becca's place, so they hadn't been entirely sure on appearance. The fact that she seemed around Jo's age had Ellen swearing on her soul that she'd keep a look out for her, even included Ash in on the search. Now with this new sighting, her appearance was finalized and Ellen was on the alert.
The brothers themselves had been searching ever since St. Louis. According to Becca, the girl had told her to go get the police's attention when they'd entered her parents' house. She'd left her savior laying on the couch but she'd been gone when Becca had gotten back to the living room. Of course no hunter wanted to deal with the authorities so chances are she said all that to get Rebecca out of the room and then make her escape.
During their drive to Bobby's, Sam had asked if Dean's "girlfriend" could actually be a girlfriend or old fling he'd hooked up with in the past. That had been a negative on the elder's part, knowing that all the women he'd been with, depending on circumstances, would have called him or gotten themselves killed if they'd come in contact with the supernatural. Not like this woman, who ran at it. Which kind of endeared her to Dean.
If she was a hunter, which was the possible bet, then she wasn't a fling. Dean tried not to have relationships with female hunters, they were all armed with at least one gun at all times or some type of weapon and he didn't want to upset them, especially if he would need their help in the future. Hunters were few in numbers, considering the mortality rate, but female hunters were scarcer.
Sam had brought up a point which actually made a lot of sense. He suspected she was a psychic like him except instead of death visions, she was seeing future events. That would explain how she knew about the shapeshifter, the police, and that the brothers had been stashed in the sewer. It also explained how she knew how to kill him. She probably saw what he was and did her own research. Maybe she even made her own weapon?
She'd handled Rebecca fairly good too, kept her from freaking out even more. She'd given Becca a reason why the shifter might have been doing what he was doing, which sounded pretty accurate to Sam, but she'd never admitted it was a shapeshifter.
What they needed to figure out was if she was seeing anything supernatural or just seeing the brothers. It had been a little over a year since St. Louis but that didn't mean she hadn't been in the background of their other cases. Both Sam and Dean wasted nearly two hours discussing old cases that she might have had a hand in. They had no solid evidence so they had no way of knowing if she'd help them in the other cases.
The thought that concerned Dean was why she involved herself in their cases. Did she see something happening that urged her to show up when she did? Had she seen the shapeshifter kill Rebecca? Would Gordon have killed Lenore before they arrived? Those were the things that bothered Dean.
Pulling up into the scrape yard Bobby met the boys as they exited the car, Dean moving to the trunk to grab their bags.
"Boys." Bobby was watching them, studying the bruises on Dean's face and the small peek of bandage on Sam's forearm.
"Hey Bobby. How you been?" Sam gave a small smile. Glancing over, his brother stopped next to him, giving Bobby a nod of greeting.
"Livin' and breathin' so life's pretty good. Though can't say the same for you two. That's quite the shiner ya got Dean."
The older Winchester gave a smirk. "You should see the other guy."
Sam smiled at the exchange but his curiosity was poking at him. "Listen Bobby, about what we talked about?"
Bobby smirked at him, waving away his words. "Was wondering how long you'd wait 'til you brought that up. I know you two are curious about Dean's new girlfriend, so come on in and I'll show you my set up."
Sam hid his smile at Dean's face as he walked in after Bobby, his brother muttering under his breath behind him. Bobby's desk in his library was covered with a map of the United States and a silver bowl on a stool next to the desk. A wooden tripod was leaning against the wall.
"You said you got personal effects?" Bobby was all business, walking over to the stool, looking into the large bowl.
"Yeah." Dean swung the duffel bags off his shoulder and onto the floor, stooping down as he rummaged in Sam's bag.
"Anything burnable?"
Dean placed the socks and slippers on the desk for Bobby's inspection. The older man eyed the articles, humming under his breath.
"Our best bet would be the socks but when we find her, she's gonna be pissed. Women love their socks. Got anything else?"
Dean shook his head but Sam jerked and started to pat his pockets. "It's not burnable but I found this in the kitchen."
Sam held a folded pocket knife in his hands, handing it over to Bobby. The man's eyes lit up in appreciation when opening the knife, looking over the instrument. "Good looking blade, at least ten years old but well taken care of."
"Let me see." Taking the offered knife, Dean studied the black grip, the green sight that encircled the screw in the handle. The blade was black as well, serrated at the bottom and the tip was shaped in a roughly forty or forty-five degree angle. One thing he did notice was the seal on the blade.
"Check that out, Sam." Dean held up the blade, pointing at the banner.
"'Ranger?' You think it's legit?"
Dean nodded. "Dealing with Dad's old Marine knives for so many years, yeah I'm pretty sure. Now we got another clue. We can ask around so see if there are any hunters that use to be Rangers or gave someone a Ranger knife."
Bobby grabbed the slippers, tossing the pair into the bowl. "With this tracking spell, might not have to ask around anymore."
The brothers watched as Bobby lit a match and tossed it into the silver bowl. Immediately the ingredients caught fire, swallowing the slippers in flames. It took a few minutes but the fire finally died out, leaving behind only ash.
The brothers were silent as they watched Bobby gently dump the contents onto the map, making sure to spread and cover the entire chart.
"Hey Dean, help me with this."
The two men grabbed the legs of the wooden tripod, centering it above the map, the tipped pendulum moving gently with the men's maneuvering. Once that was done, Dean stepped back next to Sam while Bobby grabbed a leather bound book from his desk drawer, flipping the pages until he found his spot.
Latin words flowed and the pendulum started swaying on its own, small circles at first and then larger, the tip reaching further outward. Bobby finished the Latin and the three men watched as the swinging grew faster, narrowing on Montana but suddenly it started to slow down and finally stopped, in the position it had started in.
"That it?" Dean's voice was incredulous, the boys looking over at Bobby who sighed.
"That's it." Bobby answered, reaching to take the tripod off his desk. Dean's hand stopped him.
"But it didn't tell us where she is. Did it?"
"Dean…" Sam grabbed his brother's elbow, studying Bobby's face and knowing why it didn't work.
"This thing never fails to find anyone or anything supernatural. The only reason something like this would happen was if there ain't anything to find, at least anymore." Bobby spoke the words with emphasis, making eye contact with the older Winchester. "Whatever Gordon did got her good Dean. I'm sorry."
A dark look overcame Dean's face, his eyes distant. Bobby and Sam glanced at each other, a little concerned about the sudden change in Dean's mood. They knew him enough that he'd feel guilty about the woman who had helped them in the past. Guilty about not trying hard enough to get answers from Gordon or not looking enough around the property for her. It didn't matter the reason, Dean would feel guilty and angry.
Sam was in the same boat. They had missed her by minutes but it wasn't enough to save her. That would bother him for quite awhile. Knowing Dean, he'd see her as his responsibility. She was helping them out but he couldn't save her. That was just how his brother functioned.
"Thanks Bobby." The older sibling nodded at their father figure before walking out of the living room. It was seconds later the front door snapped shut.
Bobby huffed softly. "Well, can't say I didn't see that coming."
Sam helped the older hunter take the tripod off his desk, muttering, "Went a lot better than I thought it would." Although Sam was sure Dean would be tempted to kill Gordon if they met again. He'd definitely have to be on the look out for the angry vampire hunter.
It was when they had cleaned up Bobby's desk and placed the socks back in his bag that Sam noticed the Ranger knife was missing. There was a flash of worry but it disappeared instantly. It had last been in Dean's hands so Sam knew that there was no way his brother would ever lose the blade. He would keep it safe.
~~~SPN~~~
Considering that Jo had been kidnapped by a previously living serial killer and the two brothers had had to crawl around in an old sewer system that hid his torture chamber in search of the fiery blonde and the latest victim, there was one thing Dean was somewhat happy about.
His "mysterious girlfriend," for lack of a name, had been a brunette. She didn't fit the specific type of women Holmes abducted and, had she still been alive and shown up, she would have probably been safe. Hair color wasn't enough for Dean though. With a serial killer-turned-ghost like Holmes there was no way in hell he would have let her anywhere near this case. So what if she was brunette. Dean would have made sure she was safe, somewhere far away and preferably surrounded by salt and iron.
Throwing his duffel bag in the trunk, Dean paused, letting his mind wonder when remembering that she wasn't here because she couldn't be. Jaw tight, Dean eased open the weapons box, his hand immediately grabbing the dark blue bandana that was wrapped around the black folded knife.
After finding out she had passed, probably from her injuries caused by Gordon, Dean tended to carry around her knife, stashing it in his back right pocket. Anytime he and Sam were actively hunting and not just driving around, Dean made sure to stash it away. Last thing he wanted was to lose the military knife.
"Come on Dean, we don't want Ellen anymore pissed off than she already is," called Sam from the front of the car. Ellen had called not five minutes after dropping off Teresa at the hospital, demanding to be picked up from the airport.
"Yeah, I'm coming." Dean didn't get a response from Sam so he used those seconds to unwrap the knife. Opening it, Dean studied the blade, fingers running over the small banner that read Ranger. Bobby had said it was at least ten years old but the whole instrument had been well cared for and Dean intended to carry on that treatment. He'd give it a good cleaning and polishing when they stopped somewhere for the night. Until then…
Folding it back together Dean tucked it into his back pocket, throwing the bandana back in the trunk and shutting the weapons made him feel better having it on his person but it also gave him a reminder to save as many people as he could.
~~~SPN~~~
"I let him live once Sammy. I'm not doing it again."
"Dean…"
"He killed her Sam! Because she was trying to do the right thing. Trying to help us. And the bastard tries to apologize to me about it? Not to mention he was fully intent on killing you. I can't Sam. I can't do it."
Dean's adrenaline is making his heart beat far faster than normal, the blood rushing through his veins. First, it was Gordon's plans to kill Sam because supposedly Sam was gonna go dark side. Then it was Gordon's half-assed apology to Dean. He had heard from within the hunting community that his girlfriend hadn't survived the slice he'd given her at the farm house and he was sorry that it had happened. He even apologized for his rude comment about her. Dean wanted to strangle him.
The feelings of guilt and hatred had come back to him, wanting nothing more than to break free from his bonds and smash Gordon's face in. Preferably with his fists. And lastly hearing the grenades going off, thinking that he'd lost his brother to Gordon as well. It was safe to say he was wired and he wanted blood.
"Dean I know you're pissed, I'm pissed at him too, but Gordon will get his. He's already taken care off, let's go." Sam's eyes were wide and they were staring at Dean, begging him.
The eldest Winchester growled before glancing over at the back room where Dean knew Gordon was at but turned away. Heading over to the wall the hunter had been sitting against, Dean grabbed the other hunter's bag, up heaving the contents. There were various knives and his colt in the pile and Dean swiftly puts them back in their proper places. Gordon had searched him while unconscious, relieving him of his weaponry. The only one still gripped tightly in his hand was his girlfriend's knife. The bastard touched it, touched her knife.
Sam noticed the blade but, thankfully, didn't say anything about it, just followed his brother out of the house.
~~~SPN~~~
Tossing the duffel bag into the trunk, Dean was happy with the way the salt and burn had finished. It was pretty standard with only a few bruises on his legs and arms from being thrown around while Sam salted the vengeful hag's bones and lit her up. He'd be a little sore but he'd get over it. Slamming the trunk shut, Dean maneuvered into the driver's seat next to Sam, who had his laptop out, studying the screen.
"I found another case, Dean."
He nodded his acknowledgement, his mind on the prospect of breakfast, "What do you got?"
The rumble from the Impala's engine was loud but he still managed to hear Sam's words, "A jewelry store was robbed by a longtime employee who then went back home and supposedly committed suicide. Same thing happened with a bank, a Milwaukee National Trust…"
Anyone wanna guess what's gonna happen in the next chapter? Wasn't super happy with the way this chapter ended up, kinda short too, but what can you do? So we had a bit of two episodes there, No Exit and Hunted. In case you guys didn't catch that. I'll see you people later. Peace out! -Mez