You can't quit until you try
You can't live until you die
You can't learn to tell the truth
Until you learn to lie
You can't breathe until you choke
You gotta laugh when you're the joke
There's nothing like a funeral to make you feel alive
Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful.
Will you swear on your life,
That no one will cry at my funeral?
I know some things that you don't
I've done things that you won't
There's nothing like a trail of blood to find your way back home
I was waiting for my hearse
What came next was so much worse
It took a funeral to make me feel alive
FRESH BLOOD
Sioux Falls
Bobby's House
- 7.5 years ago -
"Oh God," I muttered at the scene before us. Sam voiced his agreement, looking in great distaste at the row of dead pigs hanging from the ceiling. "You're joking, right?" I asked, looking over at John. He smirked and shook his head, handing out machetes to us.
"One day you're going to have to know how to correctly and efficiently decapitate some creature. It's not as easy as it sounds, nor is it impossible," he said, looking at each of us in turn.
We'd finally graduated from using the wooden sticks John had been training us with to fully sharpened machetes and so far none of us had lost a limb, or any other important piece of appendage; of course, I was starting to wonder if that was just a matter of time.
"The key to a successful decapitation is accuracy, so learn your weapon, I want you to live, eat and breathe your machetes over the next two weeks. Carry it with you, practice together, we've set up targets which Bobby will show you to work on your accuracy but won't damage your blade." He looked at us all to ensure we were taking it all in. We nodded.
"You won't always have the opportunity, but beheading from the rear is best. The brunt of your attack will be stopped by the spine, so it is best if you get through the bone first. If you attack from the front, the attack will be slowed by the flesh and having to cut through muscle and veins. Once you hit bone, it'll most likely stop your attack altogether. So if you can, attack from behind because a half decapitation is disgusting." I gulped, struggling to keep my breakfast down. The whole idea was disgusting!
I felt a hand placed at my lower back and looked over to see Dean casually standing next to me, watching his father with an expression akin to amused horror. Sam huffed and crossed his arms. "Dad, why do we have to know this?" He asked, ever the questioner. John sighed and looked at him.
"You never know what you're going to come up against out in the supernatural world, I want you kids prepared, for any eventuality." He said. Cole nodded, looking like she was rearing to go. I shook my head at her, wondering how she could do it. I reached behind my back and took Dean's hand in my own; he squeezed back in an unspoken reassurance. There was no getting out of this; I just had to use his strength to carry me through. It didn't make me feel any less sick.
Albany, New York
- Present Day -
The machete felt good in my hand, like a long lost friend. We hadn't had to use them much lately. Heck, a few years ago we barely used them at all, even though we'd been trained in them. Then we'd learned about vampires, they were very much real, and out there in the night attacking innocent people. I stared down at the blade shining under the street light and smirked. Who knew?
The metallic smell of blood pierced the night's air and I looked down, shining my flashlight around at the ground. A pool of blood trickled out from near a dumpster and Sam ran ahead to find a man lying in the middle of it. He had a gaping wound in his neck and was spluttering for help.
"Hey, hey, don't worry," Sam said. "We're gonna call you some help, okay?"
"Where is she?" Dean asked urgently, pushing in behind Sam. "Where'd she go?!"
The man pointed weakly down the alley and Dean looked up, meeting my eyes. I nodded silently to him and together we started to jog down the alley leaving Sam to attend to the man. We wound our way through the alley and a couple of back passages until we found ourselves in a loading dock. There was no one about.
Dean stopped, pulling back the sleeve to his shirt and raising the machete to his arm.
"Wait, wait, what are you doing?" I asked, looking at him, my hand on his arm stopping the blade.
"It'll bring her right to us," he answered, looking me in the eyes. I paused, watching him, and decided it wasn't actually too bad a plan. I nodded. "Back me up," he said, nodding toward a loading platform twenty feet away where I'd be hidden in the dark, provided the vampire didn't pick up my scent. Somehow it seemed she'd be more focused on the blood being shed than me.
I nodded and scooted over to the platform, pulling myself up where I had a good view of the loading area. I crouched in the darkness and waited while Dean drew the blade across his forearm, his blood starting to trickle down his arm as he held it up.
"Smell that?!" Dean yelled to the darkness. "Come and get it!"
There was a noise to my left and then a young woman walked out from a side alley, staring at Dean. She looked rabid, blood dripping down her chin.
Dean smirked and nodded. "That's right. Come on. I smell good, don't I?" He raised an eyebrow as she took a step toward him. "I taste even better." She took a few more steps forward, approaching Dean cautiously. I balanced on the balls of my feet, ready to spring the six feet down if needed to back him up.
She moved toward him, hesitating at the sight of the machete. Dean smirked and dropped it to the pavement which had me on my feet instantly. What was he playing at? I jumped down to the ground just as he looked at the vampire and encouraged her forward. "Come on!" He said. "Free lunch!"
The vampire charged at him, grabbing his shirt as I sprinted to close the gap. She bit him on the neck, and at the same time Dean whipped out a syringe and plunged it into her neck, emptying the contents into her. I grabbed at her hair, yanking back on her head and pulling her away from Dean as he grimaced, grabbing his neck. The vampire convulsed and a couple of times before falling to the ground unconscious.
"Whoo!" Dean exclaimed, looking up at me, and then frowned at the exasperated look I tossed his way. "What?" He asked, touching his neck again.
I sighed, pulling out a cloth from my jacket and moving up to gently hold it against his neck while he chuckled, catching his breath.
"Cutting it a little close, don't you think?" I asked evenly, looking into his hazel eyes. They were fired up and excited. Dean slid his hands around me, pulling him to me and nuzzling his way into my neck.
"Eh... that's just chum in the water, I'm fine. Worked, didn't it?" He said as he kissed his way up to my lips. I pulled back, taking the cloth away from his neck and assessing the damage, wasn't more than a nick, but just the same, it had been close.
"Yeah I guess," I said. Dean was examining his arm with a grimace, I sighed again and put the cloth against the cut, getting him to elevate the limb. Sam came running up and looked troubled when he saw the bite on Dean's neck.
"Cut that a little close didn't you?" He asked, frowning at me.
"Yeah... he did," I said, glancing up at Sam. We'd both been noticing Dean's growing recklessness with the hunt lately and it had been more and more worrisome.
"Guys, come on, it worked, I'm fine, let's get this thing to the motel all right?" Dean said, shrugging. I looked at Sam and shrugged.
Motel Room
- Present Day -
Sam finished tying the girl to the chair and we waited. After a few moments she started to shake her head. When she looked up at the two men standing over her, panic flared into her eyes.
"You with us?" Dean asked shortly, peering down at her. She struggled against the bonds holding her, short breaths coming fast and laboured. "Oh, yeah, sorry. You're not going anywhere," he added with an amused smile.
"Where's your nest?" Sam asked firmly.
"What?" She gasped, looking confused.
"Your nest!" Dean snapped. "Where you and your bloodsucking pals hang out." His eyes were full of irritation and he looked like he was getting ready to snap.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said softly, Dean rolled his eyes and looked over at me. I pushed myself off the wall I'd been leaning against and came over to look at her, frowning. She looked up at me, seeing that I was a woman and her eyes became desperate. "Please! I don't feel good."
"Yeah, well, you're gonna feel a hell of a lot worse if we give you another shot of dead man's blood," Sam said from beside me, and Dean waved a syringe in front of her.
She looked panicked and shook her head. "Just let me go."
"Yeah, sorry, you know we can't do that," I said to her.
"I'm telling you the truth," she said and Dean turned away with a snort. She looked at me again. "I'm just... I took something. I'm freaking out! I don't know what's going on!"
We all paused, and I crouched down in front of her, assessing her eyes. "You took something?" I asked.
"Yes!" She said, her breath coming fast and erratically. I glanced up at Dean and then Sam. They were both frowning, this really didn't sound good. "I can't...come down. I just want to come down!"
"What's your name?" Sam asked, his voice taking a slightly less antagonistic tone.
"Lucy," she said. "Please, just let me go."
"All right, Lucy, how about this? If you tell us what happened, we'll let you go," I said to her. I knew it was a lie, but she didn't need to know that.
"You will?" She asked, hopeful. I nodded, standing back up. She looked at Sam standing beside me and he nodded too. Dean had walked behind her and was sending us confused looks.
Lucy settled down a little. "Uh, I don't really … um, it's not that clear. I was at Spider."
"Spider?" Dean asked, walking back around to face her.
"The club on Jefferson," she said. "And there was this guy...he was buying me drinks."
"This guy...what's he look like?" I asked, crossing my arms.
"He was old, like thirty?" She said. I smirked, looking at Dean who managed to look offended at the fact that he himself was staring down the barrel of the big two-nine in a few months' time. I swallowed, the realisation starting to hit me that he would be dead before he even turned thirty. He saw the look in my eyes and I pushed it deep behind my mask, locking it away.
"He had brown hair, a leather jacket... Deacon or Dixon or something," she continued, shaking her head. "Said he was a dealer... he had something for me."
"Something?" Sam asked, looking at her curiously.
"Something new. 'Better than anything you've ever tried before'. He put a few drops in my drink," she said, looking at me.
I gulped and ran a hand across my face in resignation. What on earth were they going to think of next? "Was the drug red and thick?" I asked, looking at her. She nodded.
Dean let out a frustrated noise and started pacing behind her. "Well, genius move there. That was vampire blood he dosed you with!"
"What?" Lucy asked incredulously.
"Yeah, you just took a big steaming shot of the nastiest virus out there," Dean said.
"You're crazy! He gave me roofies or something! No..." She swung around to look at Sam and me. "The next thing I know, we're at his place, and he says he's gonna get me something to eat, just wait. But I get so hungry!"
"So you busted out?" Sam said. Lucy nodded, the panicked look returning to her eyes.
"But it won't wear off... whatever he gave me?" She swallowed, looking desperately between us.
"Lights too bright?" Dean asked. "Sunshine hurt your skin?" He resumed pacing, shaking his head.
"Yeah...and smells," she said. "And I can... hear blood pumping."
"I hate to tell you this, sweetheart, but your blood's never pumping again," Dean said unsympathetically to her. She frowned and looked at him, shaking her head, her long blond curls swimming around her face.
"Not mine... yours. I can hear a heart beating from half a block away," she said, tears in her eyes. "I just want it to stop."
"Lucy," I said gently, crouching down again. "It's not going to stop. You've already killed two people...almost three."
"No, I couldn't!" She said, shaking her head in denial. "I was hallucinating!"
"You killed them! All right?" Dean snapped, his voice rising. "We've been following a sloppy trail of corpses, and it leads straight to you."
"No. No, it wasn't real! It was the drug! Please!" She begged. I looked up at Sam, his eyes were starting to look doubtful. He inclined his head toward me and I stood up.
"Please!" Lucy pleaded, looking at Dean. "Please, you have to help me!" Sam jerked his head at Dean and we all went into the bathroom, ignoring the girl calling out to us.
I ran a hand through my hair, looking between the boys. Sam sighed.
"Poor girl," he said, shaking his head.
Dean looked over at the girl tied to the chair and sighed. "We don't have a choice." He said, looking from Sam to me. I bit my lip, this part of the job always sucked. I exchanged a look with him and my mouth twitched as I shook my head sadly. Sam nodded and we all re-entered the room while Lucy looked on.
"Please! You have to help me." She begged, looking at us. I inclined my head to Dean, and crouched in front of Lucy, looking her in the eyes.
"Lucy, Lucy look at me. We're going to help, all right?" I said, watching as Dean walked behind her, picking up his machete and looking the blade over. "We're going to make it stop, okay?" I said. She nodded, a smile coming to her face.
"Just look at me, okay? It'll all be over soon." I said. She continued to watch me with big blue eyes as Dean swung the machete, decapitating her in one go. Hot blood splattered across my face and down my front as I flinched, her head rolling to the side.
I stood up, grimacing as I wiped my face with my hands. Dean looked at me in mild horror, and then he chuckled. "Sorry babe," he said.
I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Terrific," I said, looking down at Lucy's head on the floor, referring more to the situation we were in than my current blood-spattered predicament. "Just great."
Sioux Falls
Bobby's House
- 7.5 years ago -
I was starting to doubt that any of us were going to come out unscathed from our training in machetes as I watched the furious sparring that was occurring in front of me right now. Sam and I stood; entranced by the attacks and parries Dean and Cole were going through. Just as soon as she went on the attack he would turn the game on its head and push her into a corner, which had her coming back out fighting tooth and nail.
I frowned, watching the anger and frustration in Cole's eyes. She was pissed off about something, and she was definitely not holding anything back when it came to Dean. They were evenly matched for fighting, I didn't know how she did it; Dean would always over power me, and I simply didn't have the upper body strength to keep up the longevity of such a fight. If I wanted to win against him, I had to make every swing count, and then throw in a little fighting dirty as well – even then I was lucky if I came out on top.
Dean was giving as well as he got from Cole; he'd had a lot of frustrations built up in the last three or four months, since we'd been in Philadelphia with Jefferson. We'd come mere seconds from kissing, and only the keening wail of a spirit had halted us in our tracks. Memories of the night before that moment continued to haunt my dreams, the feel of him pressed in behind me as we slept in the one bed available which had sagged in the middle, leaving us little choice other than to cuddle all night. I shook my head, pushing it out of my mind.
Cole got the upper hand on Dean and moved forward disarming him, his machete flying across the floor of the gym. He was beaten, but she didn't stop. In a dirty, unforeseen move she continued with her forward momentum, bringing her knee up into his groin. Dean grunted, and with a very unflattering whimper he fell to the floor of the gym, clutching at his crown jewels. Ouch. That had to hurt.
Spider Nightclub
- Present Day -
We exited the nightclub, Dean letting out a sigh as we pushed through the people trying to get inside.
"That was a big, fat waste of time," Dean complained, looking at us. I shrugged and agreed. It was a shame we were working, a night out dancing sounded exactly like what I needed – not that I'd be able to convince Dean of that.
"Look, three blondes have gone missing, including Lucy, all last sighted here. I'm telling you, Dean, this is the hunting ground." Sam said.
Dean looked at me and grinned. "Pity he's got a blonde fetish. Maybe you should have left the blood, he might've gone for that." I raised my eyebrow and shook my head at him, half smiling in amusement.
My eyes fell upon a man walking on the other side of the road. He fit the description Lucy had given us, leather jacket and all, and currently had his arm around a very fetching young blonde.
"There," I said, pointing to the pair. Dean and Sam turned and eyed them off, nodding agreement. We crossed the road quickly, following them into an alley.
The girl was leaning against the wall of a building and giggling as the man stood in front of her. He pulled out a dropper of blood and she lifted her chin, opening her mouth like a baby bird waiting to be fed.
Dean moved quickly, and before the first red drop could hit her tongue he'd grabbed the guy's arm, pulling him away from his intended victim and punching him in the face. Sam pushed the girl back down the alley the way we'd come.
"Get out of here! Go, go!" He said with a wave of his arm.
The vampire recovered from Dean's initial attack, grabbing him by the his shirt and hurling him through the air to hit the brick wall with a sickening thud. "Dean!" I called out, pulling out my gun, but the vampire was already to the end of the alley – he was fast. I took off at a run after him.
I rounded a corner and the vampire was gone, but I wasn't alone. There was the silhouette of three guys, armed, standing in the middle of the alley I now found myself in. One looked very familiar.
"Gordon?" I had a moment to ask before he smirked and raised his gun just as Dean and Sam ran around the corner. I moved quickly to the nearest side alley I could see, hearing gunshots following my every move as I shouted a warning to the boys before diving out of sight. I found myself behind the attackers while Dean and Sam had taken cover by a wall behind some parked cars. I looked around the corner of the alley, firing a couple of shots toward the hunters to draw off their attention.
They feinted away from me, moving out of decent range, and then suddenly Dean ran out into the line of fire. I looked long enough to see him jump up on to a car, and then vault over the edge of a second story parking lot before I started moving away. Dean had managed to draw off the other guy, but Gordon was still gunning for Sam, and the third interloper had decided to come after me.
I ran down the alley and around a corner, checking entrances as I went until I found an open doorway leading to the back of a store. I moved quickly through to the street entrance, letting myself out and then melting into the crowd that was surrounding the nightclub where we'd started out. I looked around and frowned, my attacker was nowhere to be seen, neither was Dean or Sam.
Someone grabbed me from behind, and I turned, fighting them off, landing an elbow to their stomach before spinning to kick out at their stomach. Sam smirked, catching my foot mid-air and looked at me with a shake of his head. "Come on," he said and kept us moving, there was no telling if we'd lost our assailants permanently or not. Crossing to a less busy street, Sam flagged down a taxi and opened the door. I hesitated, looking at him.
"We can't leave him," I said, looking around. Sam sighed and turned frustrated eyes to me.
"Get in the car Beth, Dean will meet us back at the motel, you know that," he said. I thought about the Impala and where it was parked, he had been heading in that direction with the car park, maybe he'd made it without any further incident. At any rate, we'd have to face running into either the vampire or Gordon and his goonies again to go and collect her ourselves. It only took me a minute to see the sense in what Sam was saying. I didn't like it, but I didn't have to. I sighed and got in the back of the taxi, giving the driver the name of our motel.
Motel Room
- Present Day -
When we arrived I started pacing the room. We'd cleaned up after Lucy, taking her body and burying in on the outskirts of town, and all the blood had been washed and cleaned. The mattresses still leaned against the windows so I had plenty of room to move as we waited for Dean to return. Sam watched me quietly, leaning against a wall.
I looked up at Sam and raised an eyebrow. "What?" I asked, curious as to what the interest was, he'd seen me do this a hundred times, why was he so focused on me now?
"Nothing, really," Sam said with a shrug, sitting down on a chair. "Hey, has Dean been acting more...strange, to you lately?" I paused and glanced back at him. I knew I hadn't been the only one to notice. In the last six weeks, since we'd stopped the drowned sailor spirit, he'd been more worked up and more willing to throw himself into the danger head on.
I nodded and bit my lip. I didn't know what to say about it, I didn't know what was going on with him, or how to help. He was starting to scare me, actually. I sunk on to another chair with a sigh.
"I don't know what to do Sam, he's... worked up all the time, he barely sleeps, if there's danger he throws himself in head first no questions asked. You saw him tonight!" Sam nodded, and looked at me worriedly.
"That vampire too, he waited until she bit him to inject her with that dead man's blood. It was too close Sam, too close for my liking," I continued, wrapping my arms around myself and trying to fight down the rising panic that I was losing the man I loved to a doppelganger that was only too ready to get him killed.
"How was he when you guys went to see Lisa?" Sam asked. I grimaced and groaned.
Dean and I had been dropping in to visit with Lisa and Ben whenever we had a spare couple of days and happened to be within a days' drive to Indiana. We'd spent a long weekend there a few days before coming to New York and it was great to see Dean and Ben actually starting to bond.
I sighed and rolled my eyes at Sam. "He took Ben pistol training. Guns, Sam! He's only seven years old! Lisa hit the roof," I said, running a hand over my face. "You know what he said to her when she found out? 'Kid needs to know how to protect himself, I won't be around forever.' Lisa doesn't even own a gun!" I shook my head, still feeling a little mortified from the whole exchange. Lisa had looked at me like I had some actual control over the man. Trying to rein in Dean during the last few weeks had been like trying to lasso a tornado. I was emotionally exhausted.
"It has to be the prospect of Hell," Sam said softly, looking at his hands. "The closer we get to the end of the …" He sighed, shaking his head. "I don't think we can even hope to understand what he's going through, Beth."
I nodded and felt the tears come into my eyes. "I can't lose him Sam, I can't. If he's just going to give up on himself, then there's nothing I can do, but I need him to fight. He needs to not give up on us. We will find a way."
Sam nodded and came to sit next to me, putting his arm around my shoulders. "It'll be okay Beth; we'll figure this out together."
Half an hour later and Dean still hadn't returned, I resumed pacing, the sound of my footsteps echoing on the linoleum floors. The door swung open and Dean waltzed through like he'd just been out for an afternoon stroll.
"There you are!" Sam exclaimed, beating me to it. Dean smiled and looked at us unconcerned, shrugging out of his jacket and walking over to kiss me on the cheek.
"Yeah, I stopped for a slice," he said.
Sam was on him in an instant. "Nice move you pulled back there, Dean, running right at the weapons."
"Well, what can I say? I'm a bad-ass." He joked, ignoring the look Sam threw him. His eyes met mine and I raised an eyebrow at him, crossing my arms. He squirmed a little under my gaze and then looked back at Sam.
"So I guess Gordon's out of jail," he said, changing the subject.
"Uh, yeah, I guess so," Sam said, shaking his head and sounding a little put-off by the sudden subject change. "You know, how the hell did he know where to find us?"
Dean paused, thinking it over and then realisation hit his face. "That bitch!" He snapped, whipping his phone out of his pocket and dialling.
"Hi Bela," he said sweetly when she answered. I gaped and crossed over to him, indicating he should put the call on speaker phone.
"Question for you," he said, hitting a button. "When you called me yesterday, it wasn't to thank me for saving your ass, was it?"
"Gordon Walker paid me to tell him where you were," Bela's voice came happily over the phone and I scowled. She sounded like a little girl who was admitting to something the hadn't thought was wrong in the first place.
"Excuse me?" Dean said, shocked.
"Well, he had a gun on me. What else was I supposed to do?" She said, sounding unconcerned.
"I don't know, maybe pick up the phone and tell us that a raging psychopath was dropping by!" Dean yelled.
"I did fully intend to call," Bela said contritely. "I just got a bit sidetracked."
"He tried to kill us!" I snapped at the phone.
"Oh, hello Beth, lovely to hear your voice. I'm sorry, I didn't realise it was such a big deal. After all, there are three of you and one of him." Bela said. I glared at the phone, and threw my hands up in the air. I was going to kill her.
"He had some friends with him," Dean said simply. Bela fell silent on the other end of the phone. "Bela, if we make it out of this alive, the first thing I'm gonna do is kill you," Dean said angrily.
"You're not serious," Bela said. Dean's eyes were furious, but she couldn't see that. He looked over at me, switching the phone back to non-speaker and holding it up to his ear.
"Listen to my voice and tell me if I'm serious," he said with a simmering rage just below his even tone. He hung up and then shoved the phone back in his pocket. "I'm gonna kill her!" He said again, looking at us. I smirked, that was fine, but he was going to have to get in line.
Sioux Falls
Bobby's House
- 7.5 years ago -
I gasped and started to move forward as Cole reached down to help Dean up from his compromised position. Dean struggled to a seated position and glared at her, raising his arm and backhanding her across the face. "God dammit Cole. I'm gonna kill you once I get back to my feet!" He snapped, scowling at her. Cole stepped, back, holding the side of her face and looking shocked. I knelt down beside Dean, meeting his eyes with a worried expression.
He sighed when he saw me and grimaced as he gingerly moved his legs. Sam helped me get him to his feet and Dean groaned as he walked the couple of steps over to the couch that was pushed up against the wall of the gym. "What the Hell is her problem?" He muttered to me as I helped him down to the couch. I shrugged and looked over at her, John was giving her a good talking to, she had her arms crossed and they looked like they were about to go nine rounds of their own.
"Stay here," I said, standing up and throwing him a sympathetic look, "I'll be right back." I hurried out of the gym and ran back to the house, my mind on getting anything that was going to ease his discomfort. We'd been butting heads a little lately but at the end of the day, we'd do anything for each other. I grabbed an ice pack out of the freezer and grimaced, it was hard, I couldn't imagine holding that comfortably against anything. Spotting a bag of frozen peas I grinned – much better! A bottle of bourbon, some pain killers, and a piece of pie later, I was ready to return to and play nurse.
Dean met me half way back to the gym and I looked at him limping along. When he saw me he tried to hide his discomfort and I shot him a slightly amused look, slipping into a comfortable pace beside him, turning back toward the house.
"I was coming to you," I said with mild exasperation. "Didn't I tell you to stay there?"
"Yeah well, I don't feel like watching Dad and Cole tear apart the whole damn gym right now," he muttered. I threw a curious glance back toward the gym and raised an eyebrow. Good thing John's broken ankle had healed up well, he'd be giving her more than a run for her money right now.
When we reached the house Dean gingerly walked up the stairs and into the library where he sat himself down on the couch with a groan. I handed him a couple of pain pills and went to fetch him a glass of water. By the time I'd walked back he was looking at the bag of peas I'd sat next to him in quiet confusion.
Motel Room
- Present Day -
Dean sat on a chair at the table, sharpening our machetes as I patched up his neck with some fresh gauze and tape. He smiled at me when I finished up, sitting next to him and watching as he worked. It was soothing at times to watch the methodical rhythm of the blade sliding against the whetstone. Sam was on the bed next to us cleaning his gun, and he looked over when I finished the nursing drill.
"That vampire's still out there," he said, looking at us pointedly.
"First things first," Dean said quietly, sliding the knife against the stone again.
"Gordon," I said, nodding.
"About that," Dean said, stopping what he was doing to look over at Sam in particular. "When we find him, or if he finds us... he's not leaving us a whole lot of options."
"Yeah, I know," Sam said quietly and calmly. "We've got to kill him." He said it like it was just going down the street and buying a pack of gum. I frowned; this wasn't like Sam at all.
"Really? Just like that?" I asked, and Sam looked up at me with a weariness to his conflicted eyes.
Dean nodded and chuckled. "I thought you would have been all 'No, we can't, he's human, it's wrong.'" The last part was in a mock whining voice which would normally have annoyed Sam to no end, but the look he gave us was determined and calm.
"No, I'm done. Gordon's not gonna stop until we're dead... or till he is," Sam said. He had that right at least. Gordon had become fanatical in his quest to rid the world of Sam and what he thought was an Anti-Christ destiny.
Dean looked impressed, nodding and I found myself staring at my hands. I didn't like it any better than Sam did, but it certainly seemed like we had no choice at this point in time. Dean's phone started to ring from it's position on a dresser, and I got up to answer it, looking at the display. When I saw who it was I grinned and flipped the phone open.
"Bela... sorry darling, we're still alive, you can't come and harvest our organs just yet," I said sweetly.
The girl snickered and got straight to the point. "Very funny Beth. I don't like it when people hold grudges against me, and more to the point, I'd rather Dean didn't kill me, so I went ahead and found Gordon's exact location for you," she said. I raised an eyebrow.
"You're a hundred miles away, how the Hell did you...?" She cut me off.
"Hello?! Purveyor of powerful occult objects? I used a talking board to contact the other side," she said shortly. I was impressed, but not convinced.
"And?" I asked. Dean and Sam were gazing at me curiously; I flipped the phone to speaker so they could listen.
"Warehouse. Two stories, riverfront, neon sign outside," she said.
"Thanks," I said begrudgingly. Looked like it was time to go check out her accuracy.
"One more thing. The spirit had a message for you. 'Leave town, run like Hell, and whatever you do, don't go after Gordon.' For whatever that's worth." She hung up on us and I stared at the phone, swallowing hard. I didn't like the sound of that one bit.
"What the Hell does she mean by that?" I asked, frowning. Dean shrugged, looking over at Sam who was just as puzzled as the pair of us.
Warehouse
- Present Day -
The warehouse was quiet and eerie as we crept down the stairs. Dean led with Sam, and I took the rear. We all had our guns drawn, which I found slightly amusing since we'd been trained to use the machetes which were especially good on vampires, but if you needed to keep something at bay, guns were generally your best bet. My machete was laced to my thigh in its holster, and I at least felt comforted by the its presence.
A streetlight shone through a window lighting up part of the room where two girls hung suspended from the ceiling, their heads completely missing. I shuddered and looked at them, recalling what it had been like to practice on those pig carcasses John and Bobby had dragged home for us. This was worse, and much bloodier. The male vampire from the alley was kneeling in front of the corpses, his head bowed.
Dean took a knife from the table nearby and signalled that he was going to attack. I dropped my hand to my machete and threw him a questioning look, but he shook his head negatively. As he approached the vampire spoke, causing us to freeze.
"Go ahead. Do it. Kill me," he said. Dean looked confused at me and I shrugged.
"What happened here?" Sam asked, looking around at the mess. There was blood and sinewy strands of skin everywhere.
"Gordon Walker. I never should have brought a hunter here. Never," he said standing up and I raised an eyebrow; that much I could agree on with him. "I just... I just wanted some kind of revenge. Stupid... exposing him to my family." He turned to fan us, tears streaming down his face. Dean flexed, ready to attack with the knife while we held our guns ready to fire.
Dean snorted and shook his head. "Oh yeah, you're such a family man." Sam edged his way around the vampire toward the bodies, his gun never leaving aim from the man.
"You don't understand," Dixon said, watching Sam move.
It wasn't really what Dean wanted to hear right now. He was on edge, that much was clear and he wasn't interested in listening to the rambling nonsense of a blood-thirty creature.
"I don't want to understand, you son of ..." Dean was cut off by the vampire.
"I was desperate! You ever felt desperate?" The vampire asked, starting to move, circling away from Sam and around Dean so that he could keep us all in view. "I've lost everyone I ever loved. I'm staring down eternity alone. Can you think of a worse hell?" He asked.
Dean looked at him sternly, the knife raised to chest height in a defensive stance. "Well..." he said, a slight twitch to his eyebrow. "There's Hell."
Dixon didn't get the irony of that statement, but it wasn't lost on me. Hell was everything he'd just described, being separated from everyone you loved, all that you knew, alone... with the added cruelty of it being an eternity of agonising torture.
"I wasn't thinking. I just, I didn't care anymore," Dixon said. "Do you know what it's like when you just don't give a damn? It's like... it's like being dead already. So just go ahead. Do it."
Something on Dean's face made me hear what that vampire was saying. I exchanged a glance with Sam and he looked troubled. This is what we'd feared most, the point where Dean had stopped caring, had stopped having hope, and that he was already dead inside. The vampire had worded it perfectly, we were all feeling it to some extent, but Dean – it summed him up these past few months perfectly. I circled behind Dixon, unclipping my machete from the thigh holster. His attention was on Sam and the bodies hanging behind Dean.
"Dean..." Sam said, drawing their attention. "Head wasn't cut off, it was ripped off. With someone's bare hands. Dixon, what did you do to Gordon?" I turned and looked at the vampire, and then played over the possibilities in my head. Brute strength like that only tended to come from one thing – the supernatural, and the only one of those creatures around right now was a vampire. I sighed, hoping against hope that Dixon hadn't actually been stupid enough to turn a hunter.
Sioux Falls
Bobby's House
- 7.5 years ago -
"You want me to eat these?" Dean asked, holding the bag of frozen peas in the air. I laughed, sitting down next to him.
"Nope, they're for your nether regions," I said with a grin, raising my eyebrow at him. "You know... not quite as hard... they … meld," I said for lack of a better word. Dean gave me a curious look and then chuckled, placing the bag of frozen peas over his groin with a groan of relief.
"Here, this'll make you feel better," I said, and I started spooning pieces of pie toward his mouth which he happily accepted, making happy noises as he chewed and swallowed.
"You don't have to do this you know, I can take care of myself," he mumbled around pieces of pie.
"Yeah I know," I answered, "But that's what I do... I fuss over you, you look after me... we both look after Sammy." 'We don't get involved with each other,' I thought to myself with a sigh. Dean caught the sigh and a look of understanding passed between us. This is how we worked now, an unspoken agreement that anything we wanted took a back seat for John and Sam. When it got too bad we butted heads and fought like cat and dog until something broke – either our bodies or our resolve, and then we went back to being brother and sister again, and the whole routine got set to repeat.
Dean sighed and took the pie from my hands, putting it on the table in front of us. Shifting a little closer he put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me against him. "Come here," he whispered, placing a kiss against the top of my head as I leaned into him and rested my head on his shoulder. "Thanks," he said softly.
"Anytime," I replied, just as quietly. We were interrupted by the sound of the front door flinging open and Sam bounding up through foyer looking for us. Pulling apart reluctantly, we waited for him to find us. His shaggy hair cut made me chuckle as the sixteen-year-old came into the room all bright-eyed.
"Dudes! You just missed out on the best fight! Cole looked like she wanted to kill Dad. They're nuts, like what the hell is wrong with her?" He asked giving Dean a sympathetic look. Dean grimaced and shrugged.
"Beats me," he said before glancing at me, "you know what her problem is?" They both looked expectantly at me and I shook my head.
"Nope, she's keeping this one close," I answered with a shrug.
Sam was eyeing off the peas sitting on Dean's groin and grinning. "What?!" Dean said in an exasperated tone.
"Peas for a pea sized..." He didn't get to finish the comment because Dean sent the fork from the pie dish flying in his direction. Sam ducked and ran out of the room laughing. I chuckled and Dean looked at me offended.
"That's not funny!" He said, but there was laughter in his eyes.
"Oh come on," I said, cuddling back up to him. "It's a little funny..." I looked up at him, a cheeky grin on my face. "Get it... little?"
Dean grabbed me, starting to tickle my ribs as I shrieked with laughter. "Little?! Why... I'll give you funny..." he said, momentarily having forgotten the pain in his crown jewels.
Motel Room
- Present Day -
As soon as daylight had hit, we started canvassing the town for Gordon. He had to be somewhere; a vampire had to go to ground in order to avoid the sun – that much about the legends was true, they didn't like being out during the day. Dean opened the door to our motel room and entered the room with a frustrated sigh, shrugging out of his jacket and tossing it on a chair.
"Man, we must have checked three dozen motels, empty buildings, warehouses..." he shook his head and went into the bathroom.
"Yeah, me too. Big city," Sam answered from where he was sitting at the table, looking over maps. Dean leaned over the sink and splashed his face with water, groaning from sheer exhaustion.
"It's like a giant haystack," I said with a sigh. "And Gordon's a deadly needle." I glanced at the curtains where a tiny streak of sunlight was passing between the mattresses we'd stacked there. I yawned, sleep on a bed sounded good right about now. "We're running out of daylight," I said instead.
"Yeah, we won't have the sun slowing him down soon," Dean agreed, stepping out of the bathroom.
"Yeah, he'll be unstoppable," Sam said quietly. "Hey, give me your phones," he said.
"What for?" Dean asked, reaching for his phone and handing it to Sam. Taking the backs off, Sam pulled the SIM cards out of the phones and looked up.
"Well, if Gordon knows our cell numbers he can use the cell signal to track us down," he answered.
"Oh yeah, thanks," Dean said, nodding.
Sam destroyed the SIM cards and smashed the phones underfoot.
"Man, I just downloaded a bunch of music to that phone," I said sadly. Sam looked up at me, a little chagrined.
"Did you back it up to the computer?" He asked and I shook my head, I hadn't had time. He looked sympathetically at me and I shrugged, these things happened.
Dean was looking out the window, and he suddenly turned, rummaging through his duffel bag.
"Okay, you guys stay here," he said, pulling the Colt out of the bag. I frowned and crossed the room to him.
"What? Where are you going?" Sam asked, looking over at us.
"I'm going after Gordon," Dean answered, checking the Colt over.
"What?" I asked, looking incredulously at him.
Dean looked up, meeting my gaze. "You heard me," he said quietly in a tone that sounded a lot like John's. I paused, looking at him, and felt my stubbornness come to the surface.
"You're not going alone," I said firmly.
"One: I don't need you to sign me a permission slip," Dean said brushing past me to go and lean against a dresser, still looking the gun over. "Two: He's after Sam, not us, and he's turbocharged. I want you to stay here and back up Sammy, just in case. I'll take care of this."
I spun around, following his movements. "You're gonna get yourself killed," Sam said angrily and Dean looked up at him.
"Just another day at the office," he quipped. "It's a massively dangerous day at the office," he added and I felt my ire rise up at his devil-may-care attitude.
"What, so you're the guy with nothing to lose now, huh?" I snapped, moving to stand in front of him as he loaded the Colt with fresh ammo. "Oh wait, let me guess. Because, uh, it's because you're already dead, right?" I said, glaring at him.
"If the shoe fits," Dean said with a shrug. I wanted to hit him, slap him right across the cheek and see that smug look fall off his face. Instead I ran a hand through my hair and sighed.
"You know what, Dean? I'm sick and tired of your stupid kamikaze trip," I said wearily.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa...kamikaze?" He said, looking offended. He smirked and looked over at Sam. "I'm more like a ninja."
"That's not funny," I said, crossing my arms. Dean's eyes held an amused glint when he looked back at me.
"It's a little funny," he said stubbornly to me. I rolled my eyes and threw my hands in the air, stalking off to the bathroom where I shut the door, leaning against it.
"No, it's not," I heard Sam say through the hollow door. This motel wasn't exactly four-star with decent sound proofing; I could hear everything they were saying.
"Well what does she expect me to do Sam, huh? Sit around all day writing sad poems about how I'm gonna die? You know what? I got one. Let's see, what rhymes with 'shut up the both of you!'?" Dean's voice was irritated, and I slumped against the door.
"Dude, drop the attitude, Dean. Quit turning everything into a punch line," Sam said. "And you know something else? Stop trying to act like you're not afraid."
"I'm not!" Dean insisted and I shook my head in frustration.
"You're lying. You may as well drop it 'cause we can see right through you, and Beth deserves better man," Sam said. "She deserves your honesty."
"You got no idea what you're talking about," Dean said with a sigh.
"Yeah, I do," Sam said, looking at his brother with those big puppy dog eyes that worked on everyone else. "You're scared, Dean. You're scared because your year is running out, and you're still going to Hell, you don't know how to open up to Beth without making her worry, and you're freaked." I quietly opened the door, peeking through the opening at them – they were both standing and facing each other in the centre of the room.
"And how do you know that?" Dean asked.
"Because we know you," I said quietly. They both looked over at me.
"Really?" Dean asked, smirking.
"Yeah, really! I've been following you around my entire life!" Sam said, his face looking angry. "I mean, I've been looking up to you since I was four, Dean. Studying you, trying to be just like my big brother. So yeah, I know you!" He stopped short, looking at me and shaking his head, throwing a hand up in the air.
I crossed to Dean and he sighed, his eyes looking at me sadly. "Hey, I've spent almost every day with you for the last twelve years Dean. Don't tell me I don't know you. I know you better than anyone else in this world. Both of us do." I placed a hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat racing beneath it.
"This is exactly how you act when you're terrified," Sam interjected. "And, I mean, I can't blame you, it's just..." he stopped short, tears coming into his eyes as he shook his head, fighting off his own fears and frustrations.
"What?" Dean asked, looking over at him.
"It's just...I wish you would drop the show and be our brother again. Just...just 'cause." He said softly.
Dean stared at him a moment, silent, and then looked down at me. I nodded and looked at with all the love I felt in my heart, hoping it might make a difference; that he could move past the kamikaze thing. Dean's gaze dropped to the floor for a heartbeat and then he looked up and kissed my forehead, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into him tightly. He looked over at Sam and nodded.
"All right, we'll hole up, cover our scent so he can't track us, and wait the night out here," he conceded. I breathed a sigh of relief, leaning into the embrace as I wrapped my arms around his waist.
Motel Room
Later That Night
- Present Day -
We were barricading ourselves into the motel room, all the windows covered by boards and the mattresses. Dean was in the process of bracing a shelving unit against the door so it couldn't be forced open. Sam was lighting up a bundle of sage, burning it over a clay dish to cover our scent.
Dean's new phone started ringing and I cast a curious look over at him. "You've had that phone two hours, Dean. Who'd you give the number to?" I asked. I wasn't even sure I had his new number.
"Nobody," Dean answered, frowning and picking his phone up, answering it. "Hello?" He froze when he heard the person on the other end of the line.
"How'd you get this number?" He asked, walking into the middle of the room which was now devoid of furniture other than a couple of chairs.
I deduced it was Gordon on the end of the phone and sighed, just how had he managed to track us?
"I guess you'll just have to find us," Dean said to something Gordon said and then he frowned, listening to whatever was being said. "What's the matter Gordo? You're not afraid of us, are you? We're just sitting here. Bring it on!" Dean said. I stood up from the chair I'd been sitting in and started to pace.
Dean's face took on a new expression, one that said we'd just been one-upped by the hunter turned vampire. "Gordon, let the girl go," Dean said sternly. I looked up and met his eyes, oh that couldn't be good. "Gordon! Don't do this. You don't kill innocent people. You're still a hunter." Dean said urgently, trying to reach to any kind of humanity left inside the man.
He pulled the phone back from his ear and cursed. "Son of a bitch!"
"What?!" Sam asked, standing next to me.
"We go to him, or he kills an innocent girl," Dean said, cursing again.
Sioux Falls
Bobby's House
- 7.5 years ago -
I sensed someone in the room long before I heard them, my awareness instantly going to the machete which was lying under the sheet against my leg. I rolled, pretending to stretch in my sleep and felt the cold press of metal against my neck.
"You're dead," Dean's voice said quietly with a chuckle. I opened my eyes and raised an eyebrow at him as he hovered over the top of me, half on the bed, half off.
"Maybe, but you'll never have sex again," I said with a grin. He looked surprised and then I made a point of brushing the sheet covered machete along the inside of his thigh, perfectly aligned with his bruised and sore appendage from earlier that day.
"Oh and here I thought you were just happy to see me," he said unfazed, smiling back at me and moving his machete away from my neck. I licked my lips and pulled my machete away from him, laying it against the wall that the bed was pushed up against.
I met his gaze and a forbidden charge of attraction passed between us. For a moment I fought it, like I had been for months, then he moved and I stopped breathing as he pressed his forehead against mine, leaning down as our mouths hovered less than an inch apart. Usually one of us pulled away at this point, someone said 'Stop', but be damned if I felt like it right now.
Dean didn't pull away either. I flicked my eyes at the door, wondering whether Cole would be coming up to bed any time soon.
"Dean…" I said, my mouth suddenly dry as I licked my lips.
"Mhmmm?" He said, staring down at me.
"What are you doing?" I asked, chewing on my now wet lip.
"This…" He said, and I felt the electric thrill of his lips brush along mine, soft, barely touching at first and then, when I didn't pull back, leaning into the kiss, his tongue thrusting in to meet mine while he caressed my lips with his own. I moaned, winding my arms up around his neck and pulling him down on top of me.
He rolled over me to the other side of the bed, pulling me with him until I was laying half on top of him, staring down at his hazel eyes.
I kissed him again before pulling back and sighing. "We shouldn't." I said.
"We really shouldn't…" he agreed, but his hands ran up into my hair, pulling me down to claim my lips again.
"This is wrong, you're my brother," I continued, as Dean started kissing along my jawline and down to my neck where he sucked against my skin. My words might have been saying one thing, but I most definitely wanted this. Dean groaned, arching against me.
"Definitely wrong… I'm totally turned off right now sis," he said with a chuckle.
I looked back at him. "What are we doing?" I asked, a sadness falling into my heart.
"Isn't it obvious?" He asked, frowning at me. I shook my head.
"Dean we can't do this, we promised." I said, trying to be the voice of reason even though my heart was screaming at me to just give in and love him the way I wanted to. Dean sighed, pulling back and looking at me, the amusement falling from his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah okay, you're right." He said, rolling me over to my back again, his mouth hovering over mine. "Tell me you don't want this," he said, his eyes searching mine.
I swallowed, tears in my eyes as I brushed a hand along his face. He leaned in to the touch, closing his eyes for the briefest moment.
"I don't want this…" I lied, my voice barely a whisper. He sighed, brushing his cheek against my hand and nodding.
"I'm sorry Beth, get some sleep okay?" He said quietly, kissing my forehead. I let out a shuddering sigh and fought back my tears as he climbed off the bed and started to move toward the door. I sat up, grabbing his hand.
"Dean…" I bit my lip, looking up at him. "I'm sorry."
"I know," he said with a nod, squeezing my hand.
"Please don't hate me," I said, swallowing back a huge lump in my throat. Dean turned and leaned down to kiss my lips and then the top of my head again before messing up my hair.
"I could never hate you, Beth. We're good," he said with a smile before grabbing his machete off the floor and heading for the door. I watched him leave, waiting for the door to close before rolling over and burying my face, allowing the tears to fall, muffling my sobs into the pillow.
Factory
-Present Day-
The factory was dark and lit up by pendulum lights swinging from the rafters. The door had been open when we arrived, and we were currently stalking through the back loading area, looking for the girl. I had the Colt in hand, while Dean and Sam were carrying machetes. I wondered vaguely what had happened to Gordon's companions from earlier, no one had seen hide nor hair of them, and they certainly didn't seem to be here right now.
We entered an open area and found the girl tied to some pipes. She was gagged and whimpering.
"Hey, we got you," Sam said, falling to his knees and starting to untie her. "Don't worry, we're gonna get you out of here." Untied, Dean helped the girl to her feet, and led her out of the little alcove she had been in. She stumbled, barely able to walk. Slinging her arm around his shoulders, Dean slipped an arm under her knees and picked her up, and she sobbed into his shoulder as he carried her.
I took the lead with the gun, moving toward the exit, Dean right behind me with the girl, and Sam bringing up the rear. We were close to the door out when suddenly a mechanical door slid down, separating Sam from us. Dean dropped the girl on the ground carefully, kicking at the door.
"Sam!" I yelled, looking around for a button or some other way to open it.
"Beth!" Sam yelled back, his voice sounding like he was far away as he beat on the door from the other side while Dean did the same.
"Damn it, Sam!" Dean cursed. Sam pounded the door one more time but it was useless.
Dean exchanged a frustrated look with me, looking around and picking up a metal pipe from the ground nearby, he started swinging away at part of the door, hoping to hack his way through.
"I'll look for a switch to open it from this side," I said and he nodded as I went down a corridor nearby. I was about to look in an office I'd found when I heard a scuffle taking place back where I'd come from and Dean cry out in surprise. I ran, sprinting back the twenty yards I'd come. When I rounded the corner, Dean was on the ground, crawling back toward where he'd dropped his machete, and the girl was standing over him, hissing. I realised instantly what Gordon had done, and raised the Colt, aiming for her head. The bullet hit her in the forehead and she screamed, falling to the ground dead.
"Are you okay?" I asked, helping Dean to his feet and looking him over for any bites or other injuries.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. We gotta get to Sammy. Let's see if we can find another way round." He took the gun from me, and I unsheathed my machete, nodding. We started down the corridor I had been in earlier, listening for Sam and Gordon. We didn't have to wait long. Suddenly Sam and Gordon came flying through a wall, the air becoming thick and choked with dust and debris.
Gordon lashed out at Sam, disarming him and sending the machete he had been holding flying across the ground. With superhuman strength Gordon picked up Sam throwing him across the room into me, knocking us both to the ground. I felt my ankle twinge as I landed on it at an angle and I cried out in pain.
Dean moved, pointing the Colt at Gordon's head, but he wasn't fast enough, he grabbed Dean's gun arm, spinning him around and flinging him into a wall. Like a rabid dog, he set upon Dean, pinning him to the wall and I watched in horror as he sunk his teeth into Dean's neck.
"No!" Sam and I cried out at the same time. Sam was on his feet and charged at Gordon, hitting him across the back of the head with his bare hands. Gordon pulled away from Dean who was struggling to stand, leaning heavily against the wall. He knocked Sam down, advancing on him and picking him up by the front of his jacket, slamming him down on a work bench next to them.
He slammed Sam's head into the bench again and I struggled to my feet, limping on the sprained ankle. Sam had managed to get a hold of some razor wire and was holding it in hands that he'd wrapped in cloth. He wrapped it around Gordon's neck and pulled. I grabbed my machete from the ground, moving over to back Sam up. If this didn't work, I was going to cut the bastard's head off myself.
Gordon bared his teeth and struggled against Sam, who was pulling hard on the wire, blood dripping down his hands where the wire was digging in. John had been right, without the momentum of a swing from behind, it was extremely hard to decapitate someone, the wire moved at an agonisingly slow pace through the sinew and muscle of Gordon's throat, I watched in fascinated horror as it dug its way in, Gordon hissing and choking on his own blood.
Sam panted with the effort it was taking and then with a final grunt he pulled harder, cutting through the neck all the way, and I felt a sense of relief wash over me as Gordon's head rolled to the floor. Now it really was over.
Dean staggered to his feet, clutching at his neck and I ran to his side, grimacing. He looked over at Gordon's head on the ground in surprise and then back at Sam who was standing, looking at his bloodied hands. We both chuckled at him, shaking our heads. He looked up and shrugged sheepishly, like it had been no big deal decapitating someone with razor wire. I groaned to look at the pair of them all bloody and battered, pulling a cloth out of my jacket pocket and handing it to Dean to hold against his neck. I reached into Dean's jacket and pulled another one out, limping over to dab at Sam's shredded hands.
As we made our way slowly out of the factory, all three of us stumbling and leaning against against each other, Dean snickered, glancing over at Sam.
"You just charged a super-vamped-out Gordon with no weapon. That's a little reckless, don't you think?" He asked with a smirk, holding his neck. Sam just snickered and shook his head.
"You're both nuts," I muttered with a sigh, slipping my arms around both their waists as we walked.
Side of a Two-lane Blacktop (somewhere)
-Present Day-
I was lying under the Impala staring up at the underbelly of the car. I frowned, fiddling with a bolt.
"You got it?" Dean asked for the third time, watching me anxiously from above.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," I muttered, twisting one more time until it was tight. "Okay!" Dean nodded and smiled down at me.
"Now get out from under there would ya? You're making me nervous!" He said with a grin. I rolled my eyes at him and scooted out sideways, allowing him to help me to my feet.
"Hey! I know what I'm doing under there!" I said in mock offence, crossing my arms and looking at him. He grinned and pulled me in to him.
"I know you do, I taught you myself remember? That's not what was making me nervous," he said, kissing my neck. I moaned and wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him in to me.
"Oh yeah?" I asked, curious. He pulled back and kissed me again.
"I was afraid you were going to end up covered in oil again and we are nowhere near a gas station. Can't have you getting oil on the upholstery!" He slid his hand up into my hair, holding my head still as he leaned in, his lips capturing mine as he started to kiss me insistently.
Sam cleared his throat from where he sat on the cooler holding a beer.
"So, did you guys figure our what's making that rattle?" He asked, raising his eyebrow as he smiled at our current embrace.
Dean pulled away and looked thoughtful, moving around to the driver's window and reaching in to start the car. It roared to life, but the rattle was still there; Dean turned the car off again with a shake of his head.
"Hmmm, not yet," I said, looking at the engine. Dean chuckled and leaned under the hood once more.
"Hey, Sammy, give me a box wrench, would ya?" He asked. I raised an eyebrow at Dean and he winked at me.
Sam reached over to the toolbox and handed one over. "Yeah, there you go," he said, passing it to Dean.
"Thanks," Dean said. He paused and then looked at his brother. "Sam."
Sam looked up with a frown. "What? Wrong one?" He asked.
"No, come here for a second," Dean said, waving him over.
Sam stood up with a confused look in my direction and I grinned, shaking my head. I moved to the cooler reaching in and grabbing a beer for myself, cracking it open.
"This rattle could be a couple of things. Now I'm thinking it's an out-of-tune carb," Dean said, looking down at the engine.
"Okay..." Sam said, looking at him confused and then nodding.
"All right, see this thing?" Dean said, pointing to an engine part. "It's a valve cover. Inside are all the parts that are on the head," he said. "Hand me that socket wrench," he instructed. Sam reached behind him, grabbing the wrench and turning back to Dean. "All right, you with me so far?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, uh, valve cover covers the head," Sam said with a nod. I took a sip of my beer and grinned, moving around to stand on the other side of Dean, watching him do one of the things he loved best. He was relaxed, and happy, and completely in his element.
"Very good," Dean said. He pointed to another part. "This is your intake manifold, and on top of it?" He looked questioningly at Sam, waiting for an answer.
"It's, uh, a carburetor," Sam said, smiling broadly. I chuckled, it seemed some of Dean's long-lost lessons hadn't been completely lost on him.
"Carburetor... very good," Dean said with a smile, standing up.
"What's with the auto shop?" Sam asked. Dean answered by holding out the socket wrench to him. "You don't mean you want..." Sam looked at him sceptically, shaking his head.
"Yeah, I do. You fix it," Dean said with a nod.
"Dean, you barely let me drive this thing. Let Beth do it, she knows more about it than me," Sam said.
"Yeah, but that's my point. It's time. You should know how to fix it. You're gonna need to know these things for the future," Dean said. Sam paused, looking at our brother, staring into his eyes. An understanding passed between them, one that none of us particularly wanted to voice. One of us, Sam or me, was going to have to take care of the Impala in a little over four months time. Dean turned and looked at me with a sadness in his eyes. "And besides, that's my job, right? Show my little brother the ropes?" He said after a moment.
Sam nodded, swallowing back some tears and taking the wrench from him. He leaned in to the carburetor, unscrewing the cover. Dean took my hand, leading me around to the cooler, sitting down and pulling me on to his lap. He took a sip of his beer, wrapping his arms around me as he turned to watch Sam as he worked on the car.
"Put your shoulder into it," Dean instructed and I chuckled. Sam was in for it now.
I snuggled into Dean's arms, sliding my arms around his neck as he balanced on the cooler, his arms around my waist. With tiny, soft kisses along his neck, I smiled and breathed in the smell of oil mixed with his usual earthy pine scent.
Dean chuckled, raising his beer to his mouth and taking a sip. I took it from him and had a mouthful of my own, watching his amused green eyes. "What's so funny?" I asked, curious.
He stroked a couple of fingers along the back of my neck and I shivered at the pleasurable touch, sighing happily as I buried my face back into his neck.
"Who knew that day spent hacking at pigs was going to come so in handy," Dean commented randomly. I laughed softly, shuddering at the memory.
"God Dean, that day was horrible!" I said, shaking my head with my nose pressed against his skin.
"Yeah, but hey, only Dad would be nuts enough to train us about decapitation... just in case we needed it one day," Dean commented, his chest shaking with silent laughter.
I smiled and untangled myself long enough to press my forehead up against his, my nose brushing along his as I kissed his lips firmly, taking my time and enjoying the feel of his soft mouth under mine.
"Poor Porky," I said with a quirky grin after a moment and Dean burst into laughter. Sam glanced over at us with a smile and paused to take a drink of his beer, watching us as we took in the moment. Our lives seemed to always be so fast and furious it was nice to take a time out. It was even better to hear Dean laugh once in a while.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
The song for this chapter is: Life is Beautiful by Sixx:AM
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Lots of thanks to EarthhAngel for her ongoing support, beta reading, and company as we write our stories :) It's so much when you have people to bounce ideas off!
Hope you enjoyed this chapter – welcome to all the new followers and favouriters, great to have you with us!
Please leave a review, you know how much I love to get them! Mahalo.