"This is humiliating. I feel like a friggin' soccer mom" Dean said annoyed as they got out of a minivan at a rundown old building called 'Roadhouse'.
"It's the only car Bobby had running" Sam argued as they walked over to the house.
"Hello?" Sam called out as they looked around but saw no one.
"Anybody here?" Dean called out but couldn't see anyone either.
"Alright. Hey, did you bring the..." Dean went to ask but got cut off.
"Of course" Sam said chucking Dean the lock pick kit. Dean blinked away some tears as memories of Kaylee and he doing this came back to his mind before the door opened. He gave Sam back the kit as they looked around the empty bar. They saw a man unconscious on a pool table.
"Hey, buddy?" Sam asked as they walked slowly towards him but got no response.
"I'm guessing that isn't Ellen" Sam said sarcastically.
"Yeah" Dean agreed before Sam walked into another room to look for someone. Dean suddenly felt a gun at his back.
"Oh, god, please let that be a rifle" Dean muttered.
"No, I'm just real happy to see you. Don't move." A female replied sarcastically as she cocked the gun.
"Not moving. Copy that. You should know something, miss. When you put a rifle on someone, You don't want to put it right against their back, 'Cause it makes it real easy to do...that!" Dean started to say before spinning around and grabbing the gun before pointing it at the blonde-haired woman in front of him. The woman punched Dean in the nose before taking back the gun.
"Sam! I need some help in here. I can't see. I can't even see!" Dean called out as he grabbed his nose.
"Sorry, Dean. I can't right now. I'm a... Little tied up" Sam said as he walked out with his hands behind his head and an older woman pointing a gun at his head.
"Sam? Dean? Winchester?" The woman pointing the gun at Sam asked.
"Yeah" Sam and Dean both replied.
"Son of a bitch" She swore.
"Mom, you know these guys?" The young blonde asked.
"Yeah, I think these are John Winchester's boys. Hey, I'm Ellen. That's my daughter, Jo" Ellen introduced laughing as she lowered her gun.
"Hey" Jo said to Dean as she lowered her gun as well.
"You're not gonna hit me again, are you?" Dean joked as he rubbed his nose.
"Here you go" Ellen said handing Dean a cloth full of ice.
"Thanks. You called our dad, said you could help. Help with what?" Dean asked.
"Well, The demon, of course. I heard he was closing in on it" Ellen explained.
"Was there an article in "the demon hunter's quarterly" that I missed? I mean, who are you? How do you know about all this?" Dean demanded annoyed.
"Hey, I just run a saloon. But hunters have been known to pass through now and again, including your dad a long time ago. John was like family once" Ellen explained.
"Oh yeah? I mean he's never mentioned you before" Dean asked suspiously.
"You'd have to ask him that" Ellen replied simply making Dean and Sam tense up a bit.
"So, why exactly do we need your help?" Dean asked breaking the silence.
"Hey, don't do me any favours. Look, if you don't want my help, fine. Don't let the door smack your ass on the way out. But John wouldn't have sent you if... He didn't send you. He's all right, isn't he?" Ellen asked worried making Dean look down.
"No. No, he isn't. It was the demon, we think. It just got him before he got it, I guess" Sam replied when he realized Dean wasn't going to.
"I'm so sorry" Ellen said sincerely.
"It's okay. We're all right" Dean lied trying to put on a brave face.
"Really, I know how close you and your dad..." Ellen tried to say again but was cut off.
"Really, lady, I'm fine" Dean snapped.
"So, look, if you can help... We could use all the help we can get" Sam said softly making Dean look at him.
"Well, we can't. But Ash will" Ellen said looking at Jo.
"Who's Ash?" Sam asked confused.
"Ash!" Ellen called out and the man who was unconscious on the pool table suddenly sat up.
"What? Closing time?" Ash asked confused.
"That's Ash?" Sam asked in disbelief.
"He's a genius" Jo said nodding while Ash walked over to the two brothers and Sam pulled out a file and sat it on the bar in front of them.
"You got to be kidding me. This guy's no genius. He's a Lynyrd Skynyrd roadie" Dean said sarcastically making Ash laugh.
"I like you" Ash said simply.
"Thanks" Dean replied.
"Just give him a chance" Jo said going behind the bar and pulled out some glasses of water.
"All right. Well, this stuffs about a year's worth of our dad's work. So let's see what you make of it" Dean said sliding the file across to Ash, who opened it and read it.
"Come on. This crap ain't real. Ain't nobody can track a demon like this" Ash scoffed thinking it was a joke.
"Our dad could" Sam said proudly.
"These are nonparametric statistical overviews, Cross-Spectrum correlations. I mean... Damn! They're signs, Omens. If you can track them, you can track this demon. You know, like crop failures, electrical storms. You ever been struck by lightning? It ain't fun" Ash said reading the files.
"Can you track it or not?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, with this, I think so. But it's gonna take time. Give me... 51 hours" Ash said before taking the files and going to leave.
"Hey, man! By the way, I dig the haircut" Dean joked.
"All business up front, Party in the back" Ash replied making Dean and Sam chuckle. Dean watched as Jo walked past him and couldn't help but stare at her ass before suddenly the memory of kissing Kaylee flashed in his mind. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with a sigh.
"Hey, Ellen, what is that?" Sam asked pointing behind the bar.
"It's a police scanner. We keep tabs on things" Ellen replied.
"No, no, no, no. The... folder" Sam corrected.
"I was gonna give this to a friend of mine, but take a look if you want" Ellen said giving the folder to Sam as Dean walked away from the bar and over to were Jo was sitting.
"How did your mom get into this stuff, anyway?" Dean asked sitting down across from her.
"My dad. He was a hunter. He passed away" Jo explained and Dean felt a pang of pain hit his chest at the thought of his own dead dad.
"I'm sorry" Dean said genuinely.
"It was a long time ago. I was just a kid. Sorry to hear about your dad" Jo replied making Dean frown slightly before putting on his fake charming smile.
"Yeah. So, I guess I got 51 hours to waste. Maybe tonight we should..." Dean started to flirt but another memory of him and Kaylee lying in bed, his head on her chest as she comforted him flashed into his mind.
"Oh, you know what? Never mind" Dean said softly.
"What?" Jo asked confused.
"Nothing, just... Wrong place, wrong time" Dean explained.
"I thought you were gonna toss me some cheap pickup line. Most hunters come through that door, think they can get in my pants with some Pizza, a six-Pack and side one of "Zeppelin 4"" Jo explained making Dean laughing awkwardly.
"What a bunch of scumbags" Dean said weakly.
"Not you" Jo said watching Dean confused.
"I guess not" Dean whispered thinking about Kaylee.
"Dean, come here. Check this out" Sam called out and Dean walked over to him.
"Yeah" Dean said.
"A few murders not far from here that Ellen caught wind of. Looks to me like there might be a hunt" Sam explained showing him the articles from the file.
"Yeah, so?" Dean asked.
"So, I told her we'd check it out" Sam said firmly.
…
"You got to be kidding me. Killer clown?" Dean scoffed as they drove through the night. Sam was reading the file with a flashlight.
"Yeah, he left the daughter unharmed and killed the parents. Ripped them to pieces, actually" Sam explained.
"And this family was at some carnival that night?" Dean asked.
"Right, the Cooper carnival" Sam confirmed.
"How do you know we're not dealing with some psycho carny in a clown suit?" Dean asked.
"The cops have no leads, and all the employees were tearing down shop... Alibis all around. Plus, the girl said she saw a clown vanish into thin air. Cops are saying trauma, of course" Sam explained simply.
"I know what you're thinking, Sam. 'Why did it have to be clowns?'" Dean said grinning at Sam, who rolled his eyes.
"Oh, give me a break" Sam sighed.
"You didn't think I remembered, did you? Come on, you still bust out crying whenever you see Ronald McDonald on the television" Dean teased laughing.
"At least I'm not afraid of flying" Sam retorted.
"Planes crash!" Dean argued.
"And apparently clowns kill" Sam argued back before smiling sadly.
"You remember when Kaylee freaked out about those spiders… I never thought I'd see the day that a werewolf would be afraid of spiders" Sam chuckled sadly making Dean blink away some tears.
"So, these types of murders, they ever happen before?" Dean asked changing the subject quickly.
"Uh, according to the file, 1981, the Bunker Brothers Circus. Same M.O. It happened three different times, three different locales" Sam explained.
"It's weird though. If it is a spirit, it's usually bound to a specific locale. A house or a town" Dean added.
"How's this one moving from city to city? Carnival to carnival?" Sam asked confused.
"Cursed object, maybe. Spirit attaches itself to something, and the Carnival carries it around" Dean suggested.
"Great. Paranormal scavenger hunt" Sam muttered sarcastically.
"This case was your idea. By the way, why is that? You were awfully quick to jump on this job" Dean said confused looking at Sam.
"So?" Sam asked with a shrug.
"So this is not like you, that's all. I thought you were hell-Bent for leather on the demon hunt" Dean stated.
"I don't know. I just think taking this job, it's what dad would have wanted us to do" Sam muttered making Dean look at him with a raised eyebrow.
"What dad would have wanted?" Dean scoffed.
"Yeah. So?" Sam asked firmly.
"Nothing" Dan said shaking his head not wanting to start a fight.
….