Anything But Normal

Part 10

Present Day

"When did Bobby call?" Liz asked.

"A little over three weeks ago," Dean sighed, "After the first."

"You've known for a month about this?" Liz was starting to get pissed.

"I haven't been that busy at work. I've been looking into this case." Dean confessed.

"You what?!? How the hell could you keep this from me Dean?!?" Liz yelled.

"I didn't want to worry you incase it was nothing."

"Dean, you've known since the first. After three attacks you finally decide to tell me?" Liz was trying to keep her voice at an even level.

"We've never had anything to check out before. The first two burned to the ground completely and there wasn't anything left. They were able to contain the fire this time. There are still remains for us to check out there. We can check for sulfur."

"You think the yellow-eyed demon would be powerful? After escaping eight years of hell, literally?" Dean looked away. "What are you keeping from me now?"

Dean looked back at her. "Sammy figured out how to hack into the police computer database last week. All of the police reports had something listed that wasn't released to the public. They all found a black, thick substance."

"Ectoplasm?"

"We think so."

"I can't believe you never told me any of this, Dean."

"I know you're angry– "

Angry? Try pissed as hell!"

"Liz – "

"Don't bother, Dean. Just leave me alone right now." Liz took her coffee and walked out of the kitchen.

Summer 2005

"Ugh, I hate my hair." said a frustrated girl, pulling at her blonde curls in the car mirror.

"I love your hair." said her loving boyfriend who was driving the car.

"It's too frizzy."

"It's perfect." he said, as he came to a stop at the red light and kissed her cheek.

"Aren't you supposed to be nervous?" she asked.

"It's your cousin. I already met your parents, Jess. That was the one I was nervous about."

"Yeah, but she's more like my sister, really. I grew up with her in North Dakota until my family moved to San Diego when I was 14. You have to make a good impression on her, Sam."

"You're the one who's nervous," Sam laughed, "Jessica, when have I ever not made a good impression?"

"Never, but Liz is very...different."

"Different? Like mentally challenged 'different'?"

Jess smacked his arm, "That's not what I meant."

"Well then be a little clearer about what you do mean."

"I may have completely embarrassed her by interrogating her boyfriend the first time I met him, so she might do the same thing to you." she cringed at the thought.

"Why would you do that?" Sam sighed. He didn't like being interrogated. It made him uncomfortable.

"She doesn't have her family. Her parents and brother died when she was really young, and she only has me and I think an aunt on her dad's side of the family that she used to live with. I was trying to look out for her."

Sam smiled. He knew that her intentions were good. "I'm sure I can handle whatever she throws at me." Sam smiled, "Tell me a little bit about her, so I can honestly say 'I've heard so much about you,' and not be lying through my teeth."

"I've told you about her." Jessica said.

"Yeah, she's an orphan and you grew up with her. Great conversation starters."

"Liz started UCLA last year. She's a sophomore there now. She took a year off after high school, during that time she managed a coffee shop. She now lives in Los Angeles with her boyfriend, Gavin Young. Now, I don't currently have a record of her parking tickets, but I could get one if you'd like."

"Maybe later," Sam smiled, "So does she major in business management?"

"No, mythology. Don't ask me why. She apparently got really into it as a teenager."

"And what's her last name?"

"Atwood."

'Liz Atwood,' Sam thought, 'why does that sound so familiar?'

Liz was in the bathroom fixing her hair. She'd recently gotten it cut very short, just below her chin. She was still deciding if she liked it. "Do you like my hair short?" Liz asked her boyfriend.

"For the millionth time, yes. I love your hair. It's cute." Gavin said.

Liz looked at Gavin he was just over 6 feet tall. His dark hair was the same length Liz's was, if not a bit longer. He was very tan from his surf lessons he gave part time. He also worked at a music shop full time. He had to work two jobs (while Liz worked as a bartender at a nightclub part time and still went to college full time) to keep their apartment. He didn't mind though. He just felt lucky enough to have two jobs that he loves.

Their apartment wasn't cheap, but it was considered a good deal in Los Angeles. It wasn't very big, but it had enough space for them. Liz decided not to worry about her hair as she put her brush down on the white bathroom counter top. "Babe, have you see my shoes?" Liz called to him in the kitchen from the living room. She looked under the brown couch and wooden coffee table.

"Which ones?" he called back.

"The white cork espadrille peep-toe wedges."

"I have absolutely no idea what that means, but if they're white and brown with lace up things, they're in here."

"Thank you," she said coming into the kitchen, "Smells good. Fajitas?"

"Yep." Gavin answered. Liz loved his Texas accent. He grew up in Austin but moved around as a teenager so it wasn't really a thick accent. "So you promise she won't interrogate me this time?"

"I promise."

"Do you get to interrogate her boyfriend now?"

"No, I think if I'm really nice to him it might make her feel more guilty."

"You're evil." Gavin smiled.

"Yet brilliant. Asking if you had a criminal record was totally uncalled for."

"At least you know she cares about you."

Liz straightened her white sundress. "Yeah, I know."

Liz practically sprinted toward the door when she heard a knock. "Jess!" The two girls immediately hugged each other.

"Liz, oh my god, I missed you so much!" The girls finally let go of each other. "This is Sam."

Liz shook his hand as he tried to figure out where she knew him from. He looked so familiar.

Over dinner, Sam was trying to hide the fact that he was starring at Liz. He felt like he'd met her before.

"So where did you grow up, Sam?" Gavin asked.

"I was born in Kansas, but I moved around a lot because my dad was in the service. What about you?"

"Austin, Texas, until I was about ten. My dad was in the service too."

"What about you, Liz?" Sam asked.

"Richmond, North Dakota. I only moved out here to LA a year or two ago.

"Yeah, Jess told me you study mythology at UCLA."

"Yeah, she's always got these weird books lying around because of it. I still don't get it."

"It's interesting." Liz told him.

"Just as long as you don't go looking for werewolves or to kill or anything." Jessica joked.

"I don't plan to." Liz said. 'It sucked enough the first time, I'm not doing it again.' she thought.

Sam suddenly had a flashback. He was around 15 and sitting in a crappy motel room. He remembered his dad bringing in the waitress from the café. "Dean, Sammy, I want you to me Liz. She's gonna help us with killing the werewolf." Suddenly Sam remembered why he knew Liz. He wished he hadn't.

"Let me take your plates into the kitchen." Liz said, snapping Sam out of his thoughts.

"Thanks." Sam said.

"I'll help you." Jess took the other plates into the kitchen.

As the rinsed off the dishes, they could still hear Sam and Gavin's conversation. "Sam, I don't think I caught your last name."

"Winchester."

"Like the rifle?"

"Yeah, exactly." Liz dropped her plate on the floor.

"Liz are you okay?" Jess asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Hey are you guys alright? We heard something shatter." Sam asked walking into the kitchen with Gavin following closely behind.

"Yeah, I'm just a klutz. Don't worry about it." Liz said, picking up the pieces of glass.

"You sure you're okay, babe?" Gavin asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Liz said as she finished picking up all of the shattered glass. "I'm gonna go outside for some air. I'll be back in a few minutes." Liz grabbed her denim jacket and headed out the door.

As soon as she closed the door she took a deep breath. She lit a cigarette. It was a nasty habit, she knew that, but she didn't do it often. Only when she started to feel like she should tell Gavin that when she comes home from a late night of working at the bar, the bruises aren't because she's a klutz. They're from demons.

Liz sat down on the stairs of her apartment building. She heard Sam come up behind her and sat down on the step next to her. "Lizzie Atwood."

"Sammy Winchester."

"It's Sam."

"It's Liz."

"Fair enough."

"I'm surprised you remembered me."

"Yeah, I spent the last two hours trying to figure out who you were. When Jess mentioned the werewolves...something just clicked in my head."

"I dropped the plate when I heard your last name."

"I guess I can't really blame you for not wanting to see me."

"What? No, Sam, that isn't it. I'm glad that I met you and your family. I can't even explain how happy I am about that. You guys saved my life."

"Then why did you rush out of there? Was the Nicotine craving that bad?" Sam questioned.

"I only smoke when I feel guilty that I've never told Gavin about everything." Liz explained.

"I know the feeling. But he would never understand."

"I know, but I just hate lying to him. He never keeps secrets. He goes on about how great it is that he has an honest girlfriend. All I want to tell him is that I'm a lying bitch who doesn't deserve him." Liz dropped her head into her hands.

Sam put an arm around her. "We're just trying to keep them safe. There isn't anything wrong with that." Sam told her, not sure if he was trying to make Liz or himself feel better.

After a few minutes Liz was calmer, and they went back inside. "Are you okay, Liz?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just needed some air. Let's go eat dessert. There's this amazing bakery around the corner from here that we got a cherry pie from."

As they ate cherry pie, the subject of school came up again. "So you're studying pre-law, right Sam?" Liz asked.

"Yeah."

"Do you like it?"

"For the most part, yeah. It's great."

"Sam could never study something like mythology. He's too much of a realist." Jess said.

"Really?" Liz asked.

"I guess I'm just not afraid of things that go bump in the night." Sam said.

While they were alone in the living room getting ready to go to sleep on the pullout couch, Jess questioned Sam. "What did you two talk about when you went outside earlier?"

"Nothing important. Just the beach. We should go sometime before we leave." Sam lied.

"That's all?"

"Jess, I love you, but you are way too over protective of Liz. She's pretty good at taking care of herself."

"You just met her. How do you know?"

"She seems like it. Especially considering she basically grew up on her own."

"Are you sure she seemed okay?" Jessica sighed.

"Yes." Sam kissed her forehead as they went to sleep.

A/N: FINALLY! It's done! 7 pages, which is about 3 times more than what I usually do. That should make up for the hiatus. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Sorry that it's going to be a little Dean-less temporarily. Don't worry, you'll see him again soon! As always, leave me feedback. I need it. I live for it. I thrive off of it! I'll update again this weekend! L8R, Nikki