Ok I figured out how to make this work. Sam and Dean aren't really going to be in this chapter much, obviously, they are in jail. To make up for that though, we get loads of Bobby. I just miss him a lot and I do what I want. So here you go, Folsom Prison Blues (on the other side of the prison gates). You guys are getting spoiled with these back to back updates, you can thank the Baby Ackles announcement because I am seriously just running off of pure joy right now, that's why this chapter might get a little cheesy. Enjoy!
"Dude, what the hell?" Dean exclaimed, looking at Sam with a look of shock and confusion on his face, even though he already knew what he had done.
Dean looked at Aubri in the review mirror. They had been driving for hours now and she still hadn't spoken a word. Well, to him at least. If Sam asked her a question she would respond shortly, but if Dean tried to say anything to her she just stared out the window, as if she had never even heard anything. She had her back to the window and her legs stretched out on the seat in front of her as she picked at her nails and checked her hair for split ends. "Does Bobby know we are coming Sam?" She asked, head popping up briefly to look at him, her eyes meeting Dean's for a moment in the mirror.
Sam nodded, "Yeah I gave him a call last time we stopped."
"Ok good." She said before turning her attention back to the ends of her hair.
Dean shook his head, turning his attention back to the road. He got that she was pissed at him; he hadn't noticed that he had knocked her to the ground earlier. Ok, maybe the Tara thing didn't help much, but after what had happened that morning, how having her in his arms had made him feel, he had needed a quick fuck to get his mind other places. And it had worked, for a little while. Now he was back to thinking about earlier that morning. That peaceful feeling he had felt when he woke up with her in his arms. He shook his head quickly, God, I need a drink, he thought, turning up the volume on the radio and giving Aubri one last look in the rearview mirror. This is going to be a long drive.
~TFS~
When they pulled up to Bobby's hours later, Dean barely had time to stop the car before Aubri had opened the door and jumped out. She didn't even get to the steps of the porch before the front door burst open and a blur of red fur and drool came hurtling towards her. Aubri dropped to her knees and knelt on the ground as Folsom jumped up, putting his paws on her shoulders, and began licking her face. She wrapped her arms around the big dog and buried her face in his big neck, "Missed you too buddy." She felt a hand pat her on the head and looked up as Bobby walked past her, "Hey Bobby, thanks for watching him." She said smiling up at the old man.
"No problem sweetheart," he said gruffly, a faint smile visible on his scruffy face.
Aubri stood up and started to walk off into the maze of cars on Bobby's property, Folsom following closely behind her, gazing up at his master adoringly. The big dog paused for a moment next to Dean, bumping his hand with his nose. "Come on Folsom!" Aubri called behind her, not looking at Dean. Folsom let out a sigh and loped off after her.
Bobby looked between Dean and Sam, trying to figure out what, or who, had caused Aubri to be in the mood she was in now. "It's a bit chilly dontcha think?" He said accusingly, eyes settling on Dean, "What did you idjits do to put her in such a mood."
Sam shook his head and held his hands up, walking up the stairs and into the house, leaving Dean alone under Bobby's accusing look. "I didn't do anything, I swear!" He felt like a kid again, only Bobby could do that.
"Like hell you didn't." Bobby shot back, shaking his head. "Get inside, there's a folder on the table for you two. One of your Daddy's buddies, Deacon, needs your help and it ain't the kind of job Aubri can help with so she'll have to hang back here this time."
"What do you mean she can't help?"
"Just get inside and read the folder." Bobby said, giving him a light shove towards the door. The old man looked out over the scrap yard, trying to figure out where Aubri had gotten off to. He figured she wanted to be by herself for a while and Folsom wouldn't let anything get to her. Damned dog had been pacing back and forth in the house whining for hours after Sam had called letting him know they were on their way. It was like he knew she was getting closer.
~TFS~
A couple of hours had passed and Aubri still hadn't come back up to the house. Dean looked at the clock one more time, getting a little worried. He stood up, "I'm gonna go see if I can find Aubs. Someone's gotta let her know that she has to stay back for this job."
Bobby shook his head, "I'll go get her, you two just go over everything one last time." He had a feeling that if Aubri hadn't come back by now that meant she still didn't feel like seeing Dean's ugly mug just yet. He set off into the junk yard, flashlight in hand, to find her. It wasn't long before he saw a shadowy form sitting on the hood of one of the broken down cars. "There's pizza inside if you want some." He called out to her as he got closer.
"I'll… I'll be in in just a minute." She called back.
Bobby could see her shifting around on the hood of the car and heard a sniffling sound as Aubri wiped her hands across her face. Folsom trotted over, whining, before quickly going back to sit at Aubri's feet. "You ok kid?" Bobby asked quietly, shining his light at Aubri's face to reveal her tear stained cheeks.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She said softly, looking up at the starry sky before looking back at Bobby, holding her hand in front of her eyes to shield them from the light. "It's just…" she hesitated, "I keep seeing what happened to Walter, I can't get it out of my head. I mean, I can handle looking at the dead bodies, but watching someone be torn to shreds, seeing them turn into one of those bodies that we look at, it's different." She quickly wiped the fresh tears off of her face before she continued, "I couldn't say anything to Dean because he's not a big fan of 'chick flick moments' and I didn't want him to think I can't handle this." She gestured at everything around her, "I can handle it, I know I can, I just have to figure out how to and I can't do that if I get left behind."
Bobby walked over to her and patted her on the shoulder awkwardly, "It's ok sweetheart." He backed away, clearing his throat, "Now how's about we go inside and get some pizza?"
Folsom's ears perked up at the mention of pizza and he stood up quickly, barking once before taking off towards the house. Aubri laughed as she slid off the hood of the car and walked past Bobby, "Pizza sounds good."
When they got inside, Aubri could see Folsom sitting next to Dean, eating a piece of pizza off of a plate that had been set on the ground in front of him. She grabbed a slice out of the box and sat down at the table next to Sam, glancing up at Dean quickly, blushing when her eyes met his. She took a bite from her pizza as she noticed the folder on the table, "What's this?" She mumbled through a mouthful of pizza, reaching for the folder.
"It's a hunt; one of our dad's old friends needs some help." Dean explained.
Aubri's heart sped up with excitement at the mention of a hunt, "When do we leave?"
"Me and Sam are leaving in the morning." Dean said, not looking up from his pizza.
"Excuse me?" Aubri asked sharply.
"Aw hell." Bobby muttered, after what he had just heard the girl say about not wanting to be left behind he should have known this would happen.
Dean looked up at Aubri, "I said, me and Sam leave in the morning. You are sitting this one out."
"Like hell I am!" Aubri shouted, they couldn't leave her behind, she wanted to help, she needed to help. "I can help, I can handle this stuff! Just cause I got a little upset about watching someone ripped to shreds doesn't mean you guys need to leave me behind."
"Why don't you two explain to the poor girl why she has to stay behind before she murders the both of you." Bobby suggested before walking out. He shook his head slowly, "Idjits." He mumbled under his breath as he settled down on the couch.
Aubri glared at Dean and then Sam, waiting for someone to tell her what was going on, "Ok, someone better start explaining soon." She threatened as she tapped her fingers on the tabletop impatiently.
Sam took a deep breath and carefully took the folder out of Aubri's hands, "Deacon is an old marine buddy of our dad's. Now he is a prison warden at…" he squinted at the words on the paper in front of him, "Green River County Detention Center. They opened up an old cell block and now prisoners are dying. Deacon thinks it's our kind of thing so he called us for help."
"Ok, so why do I have to stay behind?" Aubri questioned, still not understanding.
Dean cleared his throat, "We have to get into the prison to find whatever is doing this. To do that, we have to get arrested. Deacon's got it all set up to help us get out once we find out what we need. You can't come because Green River is a men only Detention Center. If you get arrested, you'll get sent somewhere else and you won't have anyone to help you get out and we won't be able to look out for you. You've gotta stay here so nothing happens to you." He said looking at her pointedly.
Aubri's eyes went wide, "Oh…" she said quietly. "You guys will be ok in there though, right?" She glanced worriedly at Sam and then Dean. She was still mad at him, but that didn't mean she wanted him to rot in jail.
"We'll be fine, won't we Sammy?" Dean said, flashing her a cocky grin.
Sam patted her on the back reassuringly, "Yeah, don't worry about us Aubs. Everything is all set up."
~TFS~
The next morning, Aubri was standing at the bottom of the porch steps as the guys made sure everything was situated in the Impala. Her hands were stuffed in her pockets and she rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet as she watched them. When they were done she slowly walked up to the car and Sam turned around to face her. He smiled crookedly and she stood on her tiptoes so she could wrap her arms around his neck and pull him in for a hug, "Be careful Sam." She said before letting him go.
"We'll be fine Aubri, quit worrying so much." He said as he reached out and ruffled her hair.
Dean was still standing by the trunk, watching Aubri say goodbye to Sam and when she turned around to walk towards him his heart sped up. He couldn't risk feeling what he felt the other morning, not before a hunt, so he held his hands up in front of him, "No hugs, no…"
"No chick flick moments." She finished rolling her eyes at him and reaching out to shove him lightly, her fingers lingering on his chest for a moment before she snatched them away. "Be careful Winchester," she said quietly, "I still haven't had a chance to yell at you for being an ass yet, so you have to come back."
"Do I have a choice?" He joked, trying to get a smile out of her.
She laughed, looking down at her shoes before looking back up at him, a faint smile on her face, "Nope." She shook her head.
She looked so worried. It amazed Dean that she could be pissed at him and still worry about him. He thought about it for a minute before he took off the amulet Sammy had given him and his ring he always wore. They'd probably take them from him once they got arrested and who knew what would happen to the after that. "Hang on to these for me, think of them as insurance." He said as he handed them to Aubri, clearing his throat, "Well then, I'll be seeing you Blondie."
"Yes sir you will." She called over her shoulder as she walked back to stand with Bobby and Folsom on the porch. She couldn't help but worry about them as she watched the black car pull out of the drive and onto the road. They were the only people she knew in this world, her only friends, and if something happened to them, well, she didn't want to think about it. "They'll be ok, won't they Bobby?" She asked turning to look up at him.
"They always manage somehow." He said gruffly as he turned to walk inside. "Come on back inside, I found out some stuff about that book of yours."
Aubri's heart skipped a beat. She hadn't expected him to find anything that fast. She walked inside and went to Bobby's "office". He was sitting at his desk, books spread all around him, in front of a dinosaur of a computer. "What did you find?" she asked quietly.
"Come look at this," he motioned her over, "tell me if this is your book." He pointed at a picture of an old book.
Aubri leaned forward, squinting at the picture, "I think… Holy shit, that's it!" she jumped up and down with excitement, "Bobby that's it, oh you beautiful man you found it!" She leaned down and placed a kiss on his cheek, causing him to get flustered.
"Now, don't go thankin' me just yet sweetheart, all we've got is a picture." He looked closer at the screen, "Only one copy in existence… collector's item… priceless… balls." He muttered to himself as he scanned the page.
"What? What is it?" Aubri questioned, biting her nails.
Bobby looked up at her, "It says that it was being kept in a library somewhere, one that specialized in old books, one that burned down about a month ago." He squinted at something else on the screen, "One that burned down the night you showed up, if you want to get specific."
Aubri's face fell. Of course the library with the only copy in existence of the book she needed to get home burned down. That was just her luck. "So that's it isn't it? This is home sweet home now Folsom." She murmured as she sat down on the ground next to Folsom.
"Not so fast, there are a couple of pictures of some of the pages on here, come take a look and see if any of these look familiar."
Aubri slowly got up from the floor and looked at the pictures that Bobby was slowly clicking through, "Wait, go back, go back. That one right there!" She leaned closer to the screen, "That's it, that's the one I read."
Bobby rubbed his beard as he looked at the incantation, "I'll see what I can do about translating this and you can help me answer the phones."
"Answer the phones?"
"Those two knuckleheads ain't the only hunters I help sweetheart." Bobby said smirking.
~TFS~
Four days later, Aubri was leaning back in a recliner, flipping through one of the old books she had taken off of one of Bobby's shelves. He had some of the greatest stuff in this house, full of different lore and information about religions. She could stay locked up in this house reading books for months and be perfectly content. She heard the phone ring in the other room and scrambled to get out of the chair, "I've got it!" She called out, finally managing to get out of the chair and bounding into the room with all of the phones. She looked for the blinking light that would tell her which phone was ringing. "Home" was lit up and she let out a sigh, thank God I don't have to be a "secretary" again, "Singer residence!" she said as she answered the phone.
"Is Bobby there?" A confused sounding man's voice crackled over the line.
"Hang on a sec," Aubri covered the mouthpiece of the phone and yelled, "BOBBY!" When she got no response she put the phone back up to her ear, "He's out right now, but I can take a message if you want and have him call you back."
"Just tell him Deacon called."
"Deacon?" Aubri questioned, "As in warden of Green River Deacon?"
"Yes? Who's asking?" Deacon sounded suspicious.
"Aubri, friend of the Winchesters, I'm helping out with stuff." She explained quickly, wanting to get to the important part, "How are they?" she asked in a hushed voice.
"Fine, got into a couple of scrapes, but fine."
"Have they figured out what's going on, who is killing the prisoners?"
"Yeah, they think they're onto something, but we ran into a bit of a snag."
Aubri's heart skipped a couple beats, "What kind of snag exactly?"
"Agent Henricksen showed up."
"Agent Who?"
"Henricksen, Bobby will know, just tell him that Henricksen is on the boys' case, but we've got it under control." He paused for a moment before continuing, "I'm gonna have them out in two days." He said quietly.
"Henricksen, two days, got it." Aubri repeated, nodding her head, "Deacon?"
"Yeah?"
"Make sure they're careful ok?"
"Don't worry; I won't let anything happen to John's boys."
"Thanks Deacon. Bye." Aubri hung up and right after the phone clicked off, she heard the screen door slam shut.
"Aubri? I've got something on this incantation of yours!" Bobby called out as Aubri stepped into the doorway.
"Deacon called." She said, interrupting him, "He said the boys are fine, but Agent Henricksen showed up."
"Balls." Bobby muttered, "Well there isn't anything we can do about it and Deacon won't let those two get in over their heads. You wanna hear what I found out."
Aubri gulped, she wanted to know because this could help her get home, she wanted to go home, didn't she? She didn't even know at this point. What was so great about her old life, sitting around reading books and playing video games? Sure those things were great, but here, here she had helped save people, she was making a difference. Plus, if she went back, she wouldn't see Sam and Dean anymore, unless she watched the show they were in, but it wouldn't be the same. She wouldn't get to help Sam do research, she wouldn't get to joke around with either one of them, she wouldn't get to ride in the Impala, and she wouldn't get to mess around with Dean. She wouldn't get to talk to Dean or annoy him or have him annoy her. All she would be able to do is stare at them on a screen, watching them in a completely different world that she had started to love being in. She shook her head, "What did you find?" She asked quietly.
Bobby read her the translation:
"As we turn the tables,
from your world, you will be ripped,
never to return.
Black to white,
darkness to light,
our darkest fears and you shall live.
Everything is different
Everything is the same
But your world is missing
And nothing is the same. "
Aubri's brow furrowed, "My world is missing? Never to return? What the hell Bobby?"
He shook his head, "I don't know sweetheart, but it doesn't look good."
"No shit," she whispered. Never to return, what the hell did that mean? "Bobby, does this mean I can't go back?"
"That's what it's looking like," he put a hand on her shoulder, "don't worry though, we're still gonna look for a way to get you back."
"Thanks Bobby." Aubri said quietly before she shrugged out from under his hand and went outside. She wandered around the broken down cars aimlessly, trying to wrap her mind around what she had just learned. Her heart was racing and she couldn't get it to slow down. She couldn't have another panic attack, not now, so she tried to slow her breathing. The panic subsided, but anger quickly took its place. Her hands balled up into fists and she swung at the thing closest to her, a car window. Her fist smashed through the already cracked glass, the sharp edges ripping the skin on her knuckles and the top of her hand open. She could barely feel the pain in her hand when her eyes landed on the tire iron sitting on the front seat of the car. Grabbing it, she pulled it out of the car and began smashing the end of it against the hood of the car and the front of the windshield, "Dammit!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, throwing the tire iron away from her with all the strength she had left. Slowly she sank to the ground and hugged her knees to her chest as she sobbed. Crying for what she had lost, crying for what she would lose if they found a way back, but mostly she was crying for herself.
~TFS~
Aubri was startled awake by something cold and wet pressing against her face. Her eyes flew open and, when everything around her came into focus, she saw Folsom sitting in front of her, tail thumping as he looked up at Bobby as if to say, Aren't I such a good boy, I did it, I knew I could find her. Bobby reached a hand down to her, "Let's get you inside and take a look at that hand of yours."
Aubri nodded slowly before grabbing Bobby's hand and hauling herself up off of the ground. She winced at the pounding in her head from all of the crying and the throbbing in her hand, "Maybe punching that window wasn't my best decision." She joked quietly.
Bobby patted her back as he led her up the steps, "We all have those days."
~TFS~
Two days later and the sun was setting. Aubri was sitting on Bobby's couch, drinking a beer and reading another book. Deacon had promised two days and he hadn't called to say anything had gone wrong, so Aubri was trusting that Sam and Dean would be getting back to Bobby's soon. She took another swig of beer and that's when she heard tires crunching on the gravel. Quickly, she put the book on the coffee table and hurried out to the porch, "They're back!" She called out to Bobby before she went outside. The lights of the Impala shone on her as she waited on the top step, unable to hold back her smile. As much as she hated to admit it, she had really missed both of them.
Sam was out of the car first, and he jogged up the stairs with a grin on his face, "It's good to see you Aubs." He wrapped her up in a hug.
"It's good to see you too Sammy," she reached up and ruffled his hair before pushing him away from her.
Aubri heard the door open behind her and saw Sam's eyes go to Bobby, "You got something to drink Bobby? I need it after being in the car with Dean for that long."
Bobby chuckled, "Come on boy," he waved Sam in, "I've got something for that."
Aubri stayed on the porch, waiting, as Dean climbed out of the car and headed towards her. "Miss me?" He asked, signature Dean grin plastered on his face.
She laughed, "Not at all. In fact, why don't you just go back?"
"Oh don't be like that," he made his way up the steps, stopping in front of her. He leaned down so his face was just inches from hers, "Deacon told me you were asking about us."
Aubri blushed, "Only to make sure you hadn't been eaten by some monster, Bobby was worried about you."
"Yeah, sure."
Aubri pushed him away from her and reached into her pocket, pulling out the ring he had left with her. Then she reached under her shirt and pulled out the amulet. When she saw the odd look Dean was giving her she raised her eyebrows, "What? I didn't want to lose it and then get bitched at. You're welcome." She handed him the items and turned away to walk inside, but was stopped when he grabbed her wrist, eyes locked on her bandaged hand.
"What happened?" he asked voice suddenly serious and all traces of the joking smile gone from his face. Did something happen while I was gone? Did her and Bobby really have to take on something by themselves?
Aubri jerked her hand away, "It's nothing really. I just… I punched a window… and I broke it."
When Dean saw the guilty look on her face he couldn't help but smile a little. Shaking his head he pushed her in front of him and into the house, "Let's go Rocky, I need a drink."
~TFS~
It was well past midnight when Dean woke up. He thought he heard the stairs creaking and he reached for his knife. Moving slowly, he got out of bed and moved down the hallway, trying to find whatever was moving around Bobby's house at night. He heard the front door close quietly and headed down the stairs. Through the window, he could see Aubri sitting on the front steps, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders as she looked up at the night sky. He set the knife down on the coffee table before he went outside to join her. "Whatcha looking for up there?" he asked, sitting down next to her and turning his gaze to the stars.
"Nothing really." She answered, still not taking her eyes off of the starry expanse of sky that was laid out before them.
Dean clenched his jaw, he knew this was going to head towards chick flick territory, and fast, but his curiosity got the better of him, "You ok?"
She turned her head slowly to look at him, a sad smile on her face, "Bobby told you guys didn't he?"
"Yeah," he cleared his throat, "I'm sorry Aubs." He reached his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him.
Aubri let out a sigh as she rested her head on his shoulder, "It'll be ok… I think."
"You know you can stay with us as long as you want to." He continued, "It's not that bad having you around." When she didn't say anything he gave her shoulders a quick squeeze, "Would yelling at me for, and I quote, 'being an ass' make you feel better?"
She laughed, "That's ok, thanks for the offer though."
Dean turned and pressed his lips to her hair, breathing in the smell of her strawberry shampoo, "No problem." He said quietly, resting his chin on top of her hair as he looked up at the stars.
Ok I know it got a little cheesy there at the end, but you know, I feel like everyone needs a little bit of cheese every now and then and we don't always get a lot of that in Supernatural. So there was your cheese and Bobby time. I probably won't be updating for a little while because of the start of the semester, but I will try to. I hope you liked my little Folsom Prison Blues Remix. As always, review at will!
Also, I'm pretty sure I am never going to recover from the Baby Ackles announcement.