Ok hope this update was a little quicker for you guys, even though it still took a couple weeks. School and work are super hectic, you know the drill. Thank you so much for your reviews, they mean so much! Also, thank you Luna888 for your sweet message letting me know you miss the story. Sometimes I feel like no one reads this story much and I kind of started to lose sight of where I was going with it for a while, but your reviews and messages really do help me push through those sucky times. A HUGE thanks to my beta Hawkeye'sBowGirl for giving me super fast feedback on the chapter and for catching any of my inevitable spelling mistakes. Anyways, here is part one of Sin City!
A week after Black Rock, they were camped out at Bobby's searching for another hunt, anything to get them out on the road again or give them some lead on the demons that got out of the gate. Aubri was sitting at the table with Dean and Bobby, trying desperately to read the book in front of her. She just couldn't concentrate though. Her eyes kept straying from the words on the page to Dean's face. She couldn't get a handle on the guy half the time, or what was going on between them. Almost every night they had been at Bobby's they started off in separate rooms, but somehow ended up sleeping in the same bed, with Dean always getting up and going back to the room he started in before it was light out. She had decided that he was embarrassed, of her at least, he wouldn't touch her more than necessary in front of Sam or Bobby, no knowing glances or suggestive remarks thrown her way. He basically just ignored her until he came knocking on her door after everyone else was asleep. There was nothing wrong with being discreet, but she was starting to feel like nothing more than a booty call, so last night before she got in bed, she locked the door. When the faint knock on the door woke her up, she kept her eyes tightly shut and told herself that it was for her own good that she kept him out even if she didn't get a wink of sleep. She knew that Dean was more than likely going to die in a little less than a year, unless by some miracle they found a way around the deal, so she didn't want to set herself up for heartbreak or to get anymore attached than she already was if all she was to him was an easy lay. She didn't want to pressure him, but she wanted more, needed more. With a loud sigh, she sank further down into her chair, putting her book up in front of her face to obstruct her view of Dean making bullets.
Dean looked up when he heard Aubri sigh and looked across the table at her. All he could see over the top of her book was the tops of her glasses and the crease between her eyebrows that she always got when she was concentrating or frustrated. The book suggested she was concentrating, the sigh suggested she was frustrated, and she was probably frustrated with him. He knew he had kind of been an ass lately, but it wasn't necessarily his fault. Ok, it was completely his fault, but he hadn't realized the full effect of what seeing her hurt would do to him until he had seen her tied up in that chair, bleeding from where she had been hit, all because she was a part of his and Sam's lives. He didn't want to see her hurt and he knew he was just going to end up hurting her, but staying away was a lot harder than he thought it would be.
He had gotten used to having her nearby at night, whether he was sleeping on the floor, in the next bed, in the same bed, or in the Impala, she was always within arm's reach. Over the past couple of nights he had gotten especially used to having her small form curled up next to him; it was a hell of a lot more comforting than he ever thought spending the night with someone could be and he liked knowing she was safe. So who could blame him when he ended up going to her room every night? Apparently she could, judging by the fact that she had locked him out last night. He probably had it coming, but she knew all along that he wasn't the type to sit on the couch and cuddle. She knew he was the king of love 'em and leave 'em , so the mere fact that he had slept in the same bed as her almost every night since they first had sex was just shy of a miracle.
"Find anything interesting in there Blondie?" He asked as he finished making a bullet.
She looked up at him briefly, just barely making eye contact before looking away and shaking her head.
"Well, I might have found some omens in Ohio." Sam called out. "Dry lightening, barometric pressure drop."
"That's thrilling." Dean turned his attention back to making more bullets.
"Plus some guy blows his head off in a church and another goes postal in a hobby shop before the cops take him out. Might be demonic omens."
"Or it could be a suicide and a psycho scrap booker." Dean argued.
Aubri set her book down on the table and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and putting her chin in her hands, "It is the best lead on crazy demon stuff since we ran into the Seven Deadlies in Lincoln though."
Now she talks, Dean thought, shaking his head. "Where in Ohio?"
"Elizabethville. It's a half-dead factory town." Sam answered.
"There's gotta be a demon or two in South Beach." Dean complained, earning a flicker of a grin from Aubri's side of the table.
"Sorry Heff, maybe next time." Sam turned his attention to Bobby who had been slaving away over the Colt, trying to get it back in demon killing condition again. "How's it going Bobby?"
"Slow."
"I tell you, it's a little sad seeing the Colt like that." Dean said with a shake of his head.
Bobby held the gun up for further inspection, "Well the only thing it's good for now is figuring out what makes it tick."
"What does make it tick?" Aubri asked, raising her brows as she looked at Bobby. When he fixed her with one of those hell-if-I-know looks she leaned back in her chair, raising her hands in surrender.
Dean stood up, "So if we want to go check out these omens in Ohio, think you can have that thing ready by this afternoon?"
Bobby turned his stare to Dean, "Well it probably won't kill demons by then, but I can promise it'll kill you."
Aubri got out of her chair and patted Bobby on the shoulder, Dean liked pushing his buttons just as much as he liked pushing hers half the time. "I'll help you shoot him Bobby." She said teasingly with a faint smile.
"That hurts Aubs." Dean said, placing a hand over his heart before grabbing his jacket off of the back of the chair. "Come on let's go, we're wasting daylight."
"Bye Bobby!" Aubri called over her shoulder as she followed Sam and Dean, pausing to pat Folsom on the head, "Be good for Bobby Folsom."
"Hey!" Bobby's voice stopped them all and they turned to look at him. "You kids run into anything, anything, and you call me."
~TFS~
They stopped along the way to change into their "professional" clothes that went along with their insurance agent front. Aubri still only had the one outfit, the black blazer and the bordering on the tight side skirt, so she went into the bathroom at the gas station they stopped at to change. She kept her Chucks on, wanting to wait until the last possible minute to put on her heels since they pinched her toes like no other. When she walked back outside, Sam and Dean were both in their suits, leaning against the Impala waiting for her.
Dean smiled at the uncomfortable way Aubri tugged at the bottom of her skirt, trying to make it longer than it actually was. His grin only got wider when he saw her red Chucks still on her feet, "Nice shoes Aubs," he teased, "you look like the real deal."
She felt her cheeks flush as she looked down at her scuffed up shoes. "You try walking around in heels all day Winchester." She said as she looked up at him and gave him a playful shove, some of the tension between them easing slightly. Her hands went up slowly and her fingers landed on his tie as she lightly tugged on it, tightening it slightly and making sure it was straight.
His heart stuttered for a moment and his grin faltered as he looked down at her, fingers lingering just a moment near his throat as she bit her bottom lip. Finally she removed her fingers and looked up at him, big blue eyes searching his from behind her glasses. He raised his brows at her, questioning why she had been messing with his tie. "It was crooked." She said with a shrug, breaking eye contact. Just as his hand went up to brush her bangs to the side she pulled away with a slight shake of her head, "We should get going if we are going to make it to that church in time." She said quickly, opening the back door to the Impala and sliding in.
Dean shook his head, wondering what it was that he could do to fix whatever he had done wrong, before walking around to the driver's side and climbing into the car.
~TFS~
Aubri smiled slightly as she looked up at the church before walking up the steps after Sam and Dean. She hadn't always been a regular at the church where she grew up, but there was something about churches in general that she just loved. They all looked different, but they all stood for the same thing more or less. She followed the guys inside, smile lingering on her face as the pastor walked up to them, "What can I do to help you?" He asked, a kind look on his face.
"We're with the insurance company, we just had a few follow up questions about the incident that occurred here the other night." Dean explained.
"Well, I didn't think there was much left for the insurance company, it was a suicide. I saw it myself."
"This shouldn't take long then." Dean answered, pulling out a notepad.
The pastor came to a stop in the middle of the aisle and looked up at the choir balcony above them. "That's where Andy did it." He said softly, "It was the first time I had seen him in weeks. He used to come every Sunday."
"When did he stop?" Sam asked.
He thought about it for a moment before responding, "Probably about two months ago. Right around the time everything else started to change."
Aubri looked up at the pastor, "What do you mean?"
"Let's just say this used to be a town we could be proud of, people cared about each other." He said wistfully, "Andy sang in the choir and then one day he just wasn't Andy anymore, it's like he was…"
"Possessed?" Sam finished.
"You could say that. Gambled away his money, cheated on his wife, destroyed his business, just like a switch had flipped."
"Father, did you know the man who killed those folks in the hobby shop?" Sam asked.
"Sure, Tony Perkins, he was a good man."
"Would you say his personality suddenly changed one day too?"
"I never thought about it that way, but yes, about the same time as Andy, two months ago."
Aubri looked at Dean and Sam with raised brows, those two men just losing it was looking less and less like a coincidence. Dean nodded slightly and put up his notepad, "Well thank you Father, we appreciate this." He said as the pastor began to walk away.
As they headed for the doors Sam turned to Dean, "Two months ago we open up the Devil's Gate and this town is all of a sudden Margaritaville? That's no coincidence."
~TFS~
After speaking to the pastor they went and checked into a motel room. The first thing Aubri noticed was the mirrors on the ceiling above the beds. "Good lord." She whispered as she tossed her bag onto the bed furthest from the door.
"Nice." Dean murmured as he looked up at the mirrored ceilings as well. When he turned around, someone standing in the hallway outside of their room caught his eye. "Ritchie," when the guy turned around a smile crossed his face, "I don't believe it."
Aubri and Sam walked over to the doorway behind Dean, curious to see who this Ritchie was. A look of recognition crossed the man's face as he looked at Dean, "Heyyy, Dean Winchester right?"
"Yeah…" Dean trailed off after a tall blonde woman walked out of the room to stand next to Ritchie.
"Ohh ahh, this is my sister, uhh, Cheryl." Ritchie explained with a laugh. Aubri laughed quietly, covering her mouth to hide her smile as she watched Richie hand his "sister" a couple of bills before she walked off with all of the guys' eyes trailing after her. "Well, step-sister." Ritchie added with a smile.
Dean shook his head as he turned around, "Come on in. This is my brother Sam and this is Aubri." He said, taking off his coat and throwing it on the bed Aubri had claimed.
"Hey, how you doing?" Ritchie reached out and shook Aubri's hand, giving her a smile and holding onto her hand just a little longer than necessary. With a quiet cough and a pointed look from Dean though, he quickly dropped her hand and moved on to saying hello to Sam.
"So how do you two know each other?" Sam asked.
"Uhh, you were in school." Dean started.
"Yeah it was that Succubus right?" Ritchie added, "Ah man you should've seen the rack on this broad. Friggin' tragedy when I had to gank her."
"Whoa whoa, wait, who killed her?" Dean asked, "If I remember, your ass was toast until I showed up."
"Oh I forgot what a comedian this guy was."
"Ritchie, Ritchie, I told you then and I'll tell you again, you're not cut out for this job, you're gonna get yourself killed."
Ritchie's phone started ringing and he answered it, "FYI Winchester, words hurt." He said before turning his attention to his phone conversation.
"So Ritchie, you find anything while you've been here?" Aubri asked, sitting down on her bed.
He shook his head, "Nah sweetheart, I got nothin'."
"Really?" Dean asked, turning to look at him.
"Oh you meant demons and whatnot?" When they nodded he chuckled, "Ah yeah, I got nothing."
"Typical. What about your sister back there?" Dean asked.
"Honestly? She definitely had the devil in her, but she wasn't no demon, you know what I'm sayin'?" Aubri cringed slightly before he continued, "Seriously, Church Guy and Hobby Shop Guy, they were lunchmeat by the time I got there. Hey, maybe they were possessed, but I can't prove it."
"Yeah, that's where we are too." Sam admitted.
"But what if people really are being possessed? Just cause we can't prove it doesn't mean it isn't happening." Aubri said.
"But why would a demon blow his brains out?" Dean countered.
"For fun?" Ritchie adds, "Wrecks one body moves to another, like taking a stolen car for a joy ride."
"Does anyone else fit the profile? You know, nice guy turned douche?" Dean asked as he stood up.
"There's Trotter."
"Who's that?"
"Well he used to be in at the Rotary Club and people say he turned bastard all of a sudden." Ritchie explained. "He brought in the gambling, the hookers; he practically owns this whole town."
"You know where we can find him?"
Ritchie nodded, "Oh he'll be at his bar in a few hours."
~TFS~
After they got settled in the room, Aubri, Sam, and Dean piled into the Impala and headed to the bar Ritchie had told them about. As they drove through town, Aubri was amazed by the amount of girls wearing practically nothing walking the streets. "I thought this was supposed to be a half-empty little town Sam." She said, looking at the people walking down the sidewalks.
"It was." He answered; the slightly shocked expression on his face mirrored the expression on hers.
Dean chuckled quietly as his eyes trailed after a group of scantily clad girls walking towards the bar they were parking in front of. "I like it, let's go do some research!"
Rolling her eyes slightly, Aubri climbed out of the car and followed the guys towards the entrance to the bar. They passed a car with the door open and a woman motioned for Dean to come closer. When he actually stopped and backtracked to get a better look, Aubri let out a sigh and grabbed his sleeve, pulling him after her. "We're here to work Winchester, remember?" She said, trying not to sound too jealous.
A little stab of guilt hit Dean in the chest when he heard the jealous note in Aubri's voice and saw the glimmer of hurt in her eyes. He took a deep breath and resolved to keep himself under control, for Aubri's sake. He didn't want to be the reason for that hurt look on her face again. "Right, work." He said with a nod as he followed Sam and Aubri into Trotter's.
When they got inside they took in the madhouse before them. The place was packed, people were taking shot after shot, bumping into each other and dancing. She looked around and a person in a slightly obnoxious colored sherbet orange shirt caught her eye, "Look, it's your friend Ritchie." She said, tugging on Dean's sleeve lightly and pointing across the room.
"Hey Ritchie," he called out, "look at you bringing the satin back." He reached out, shaking Ritchie's hand.
"Oh you like this, try dyed silk, from Austria. You have to pay $300 for threads like these. Course, for me, forget about it." He said with a smirk.
"How much is forget about it?" Sam asked with a smile.
"Forget about it." Ritchie said, pointing past them, "That's Trotter over there. He sits there all night, can't touch him."
"So what do we do?" Aubri asked, looking over her shoulder at the older bald man.
"I don't know about you guys, but I think we should do a little bit of investigating with that bartender." Dean glanced over at the bar.
Aubri's stomach dropped slightly and she bit her lower lip as she tried to reign in her emotions. "Easy," she heard Ritchie say, "Me and her got a little something planned for later."
"Yeah right." Dean said, tossing a glance over his shoulder at the bartender.
"Looks dangerous don't it?" Ritchie said, looking at the bartender as well. "Alright, I gotta hit the head, release the hostages. Be back in a few." He tossed Aubri a wink that Dean didn't miss before turning and walking away.
Aubri shook her head as Sam laughed, "Looks like someone has an admirer." He teased quietly.
Dean bit back the jealous feeling that raged through him, "No way he gets a girl like that," he said, looking at the bartender one more time as he slung his arm around Aubri's shoulder, "or a girl like Aubs."
"I don't know Dean," she said, poking him lightly in the side as his nearness caused a warm feeling to settle throughout her body, "That dyed silk might just do it for me."
He pulled her a little tighter to his side and shook his head, "Nah, you're a classy girl Aubs and her, you could fit that ass on a nickel."
Aubri punched him in the side and pulled out from under his arm as the man sitting at the table next to them spoke, "You think so?"
Dean backed up with a laugh, "Whoa, sorry padre."
"I figured you boys would find your way here, they all do." The pastor said with a sad note in his voice.
"No offense, but what are you doing here father?" Sam asked.
"Like it or not, you go where your flock is."
"Plus the clergy drinks for free." The bartender who Dean had just been ogling added as she poured the pastor another shot.
"True, and a certain bartender owes me a confession."
"Not in this lifetime father."
"I better see your butt on Sunday," he got up from his barstool and added when he was close enough for only Dean, Sam, and Aubri to hear, "nickel or no nickel."
Aubri watched the exchange curiously and as soon as the pastor was far enough away she whispered, "I swear to God they were flirting."
Dean snorted and moved closer to the bar. "What can I get you three?" The bartender asked.
"What's your specialty?"
"I make a mean hurricane."
"Guess we'll see about that."
"Jack and Coke." Aubri called out as the bartender stepped away from the bar. When Dean shot her a questioning look she raised her brows right back at him and smiled. "What? I need a drink, it's not like the world is gonna end."
"Whatever you say Blondie." He said with a shake of his head and a smile.
They looked at each other for a moment and Aubri felt her cheeks grow warm before Sam interrupted the moment. "Hey check it out." He said, pointing at a man who was holding a gun.
The man lifted the gun and shot the guy he had spoken too before putting the gun under his chin. Dean ran forward tackling him to the ground before he could shoot himself as Aubri ran towards the man who had been shot. Sam sprinkled some holy water on the man's face, but nothing happened. "Hey, what are you doing?" The guy protested as Dean continued to hold him down. "He slept with my wife, the bastard slept with my wife."
Aubri looked up at Sam and Dean from where she was kneeling next to the dead man. She shook her head slightly, feeling too shaky to do anything else as she stayed rooted to the spot. "Somebody call 9-1-1!" Sam yelled out.
Dean let go of the man and stood up, "Watch him." He said to Sam, who took over keeping the man in place. He crossed over to Aubri and helped her to her feet, "You ok sweetheart?" He asked.
She nodded, looking up at him with a faint smile, "Yeah, I just really want that drink now."
He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her as he pressed his lips to the top of her head, looking behind her at the man lying in a pool of his own blood. Letting out a slow breath, he let go of her and led her over to the pool table so she could lean on it, "We'll see about getting that for you."
After he was sure Aubri was settled and that Sam had the shooter under control, Dean walked over to the bar where the bartender was hanging up the phone. "They should be here any second now, benefits of a small town." She said with a shrug before leaning forward on the bar. "That was a pretty brave thing you did there."
Dean shrugged and made a face, "Nah, not really. So it wouldn't be too much trouble for me to get that Jack and Coke for my girl would it?"
"Your girl?" The bartender asked, raising a brow at him.
Shit, Dean thought, face heating up slightly, "The little blonde that was with me. Pretty cute, wears glasses, pain in my ass most of the time. She ordered a Jack and Coke and she's a little shaken up so she needs a little something to calm her nerves."
"I'll see what I can do." She said with a knowing smile as she quickly made the drink and handed it to him. "It's on the house. Heroes drink for free."
Dean raised the glass and nodded slightly in thanks before walking back over to Aubri. He handed her the drink and leaned against the pool table next to her. They stood there silently as she sipped her drink and then he felt her start to lean slightly on him. Without looking at her he slipped his arm around her waist and let her lean into him, feeling the tension leave her body.
The sound of sirens slowly approached and within minutes the cops rushed into the building, hands on their weapons as they took in the scene. They quickly asked a few questions and handcuffed the man Sam had been holding in place. Sam came over to lean on the pool table next to Aubri and whispered, "There's too many cops in here, I say we bolt."
"Wouldn't that be suspicious?" Aubri asked over the rim of her drink, watching the officers lead the handcuffed man out of the bar.
"Aubs is right, be cool." His eyes followed the man out the door as well, "Poor jerk, the only thing possessing him was a sixer of Pabst."
"So what's the deal then, people in this town getting possessed or not?" Sam asked.
Dean shook his head, "I don't know, maybe it just is what it is, town full of scum bags."
"Yeah, maybe." Sam said quietly, as a police officer walked over.
"You three ready for your mug shots?" He said with a smile, "The photographer's gonna be here in a few and take your picture for the local paper."
Dean grimaced, "It'll be an honor officer, what a thrill."
As soon as the officer was out of earshot, Sam stood up, "Yeah, time to go."
They all stood up and then Dean paused, "What a second, wait a second. Where's Ritchie?"
Hope you guys liked it! As always review at will and I will try my hardest to have an update soon!