Maura woke to the sound of the boys talking in hushed voices. "Dean, I don't think it's fair to ask. Think about the state she's in. The man she fell in love with in high school, who she married, tried to make her life with; he died less than a week ago and a giant dog almost killed her last night."
"They were divorcing, Sammy. She didn't seem too ate up about it, yesterday, dude. Her state is fine. Besides, that's the Hunter Starter Pack. Death of someone close, close call of oneself, undeniable proof of what goes bump in the night, and a desire to shut them down. Think about all those questions she was asking. That wasn't fear, that was curiosity."
"She's 26. She still has a shot at a normal life here, once we get the demon that's tailing her."
"Normal life? Hell, Sam, half this town thinks she sicced a rabid dog on her ex-husband. She ain't having a normal life, not here."
"She can move. She doesn't have to get caught up in all this."
"Dude, she's smart. She's nice. She knows good music. I would love to have someone nice to look at in the rear view. I mean, you're pretty and all, but..."
"Tell me that you aren't thinking about inviting that very recently widowed woman into our world just because she's pretty."
"Don't judge me, dude. I saw how you were looking at her when she walked out in your shirt. Staring at her knees like you were a virgin again. At least I'm honest about it. And willing to look at the actual goods." He cleared his throat. "Who does it hurt to ask? I don't know if you've noticed, but we are losing the numbers game. The number of well-trained hunters has dropped dramatically over the last few years. Starting with Dad, we have lost so many. If she wants to, if she's interested, then we could use her. We could train her. If she's not interested, if it's too scary for her, then we save her life and go home. But I'm askin' her."
Maura hoped he wouldn't ask immediately. She needed some time to think on it. It was interesting, the thought of hunting monsters, but she was sure she'd end up getting herself killed. Maybe it was worth it, though, to help save lives. She closed her eyes again as she heard one of the beds squeak. "Hey, Maura. Come on." Dean said, placing a hand on her shoulder. She turned over and blinked at him. "Mornin'. How'd you sleep?"
She smiled and sat up. "I slept just fine."
"Good, 'cause I was afraid that the couch might've been too stiff."
"Nope. Perfect."
Dean smirked as she stretched. "Well, we're gonna head out, grab some grub. You wanna come with, or stay here where it's safe?"
She smiled. "If I'm with you guys, I'm where it's safe. Besides, I'm starving. Waffles?"
Maura entered the Waffle House down the street and immediately ran for the jukebox. Sam watched from the farthest corner booth as she looked through the choices, before she deposited a five dollar bill and began to press buttons. As she made her way over to the booth, Bohemian Rhapsody began to pump through the speakers. She sat down next to Dean and grabbed a menu.
"You picked some other music, too, right? I mean, I like Queen as much as the next straight guy, but, you did pick other music?"
She chuckled. "I had, like, 15 songs, Dean. None of 'em are repeats. Just relax."
"Excuse my brother. He's a jerk when it comes to music."
Dean scoffed, before turning to Maura. "You got brothers, Maura?"
She shook her head. "Mike had a little brother, but... he stopped talking to me way before Mike left me. No, I was blessed with big sisters."
"You're the youngest?" Sam asked.
"Yep. Baby sister."
"They gonna miss you? I mean, we did just pull you out of your place, leaving it a disaster." Dean asked.
"No. I mean, not immediately. One of them is in Georgia and the other is in Miami."
"Parents?" Sam questioned.
"Nah. They sold the house and bought an RV. They live off the grid, pretty much."
"Work friends?"
She shook her head. "I've got work associates, not friends. I work at Wal-mart. I don't talk to anybody if I don't have to."
"So, what's keeping you in the Panhandle? Your family already vacated." Dean asked.
"I was gonna leave, too, after the divorce. Never wanted to stay, but Mike was adamant. His family, his friends, they were all here. He couldn't bear to leave them."
The waitress walked up, took their orders and walked away. Dean cleared his throat and took a sip of his coffee. "So, uh, after we eat, we're gonna head to your ex's place, try to find a clue about... his deal. You wanna come or should we drop you back at the motel?"
Maura recognized it for what it was, a primer question. If she wasn't interested now, Dean would probably drop it, completely. But she was interested. "I'll come with. I wouldn't want to be bored in the motel room. And I haven't had a chance to go through Mike's stuff since the whole thing was a crime scene."
"Before we take her out there, we should make sure she can-" Sam was stopped by Maura when she stuck her hand up and started to head bang.
"So, you think you can stone me and spit in my eye? So you think you can love me and leave me to die? Oh, baby. Can't do this to me, baby. Just got to get out. Just got to get right out of here." She sang, loudly, earning her an amused look from Dean and an alarmed one from Sam. "Sorry. Had to, uh, Wayne's World that. It was required. What were you saying?"
"Have you ever used a gun?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. My dad took me to the gun range a couple times when I was a teen. He even bought a .32 revolver just for me. It had horrible recoil, though. I was better with the .38 semi-auto. But, you know what I'm really good with? My PSE Premonition HD."
"What's that?" Sam asked.
"That is a 4 pound, hybrid-cam compound bow with a 50 pound draw weight. It gets 340 fps. It's a thing of beauty."
"You're an archer?" Dean asked.
She nodded, proudly as the chorus to 'My Own Worse Enemy' started. "Yeah. I don't know how much help that's gonna be against a hell hound or any other creatures of darkness, but I was thinking more zombie apocalypse when I picked up the hobby."
"Most things aren't really affected by, you know, shafts of wood. Maybe silver-tipped would work against werewolves or shifters. Mostly we just stick to shotguns and pistols, really big knives." Dean said, before tilting his head to better hear the song that started. "Is that...Zeppelin?"
"Yeah. Couldn't resist D'yer Mak'er."
"Marry me." Dean joked.
"Well, I'll have to get a death certificate for Mike, first, but hey, we'll talk."
Dean chuckled. "No, seriously. What kind of idiot would cheat on you?"
"Mike was an ass. He was selfish and lazy and for a long time, I was perfectly okay with that. I was just happy to have him. I was devastated by the thought that he might leave me. It wasn't that I was settling. I really thought he could do better than me. I had some huge self esteem issues back then." She said as the waitress walked over with their food. She smiled politely, and waited for the waitress to leave before continuing. "And I mean huge. I weighed 270 at my biggest. I dropped down to 190 before the wedding, but after that, he pressured me into moving into his friends' house. They were terrible, hateful people who didn't like me much. I got depressed, hid in our room for days. Ballooned back up. I tried several times to lose the weight, but Mike would always sabotage me. He'd offer me the things he knew were my weaknesses. He'd make me feel bad about working out, because that was time I could be spending with him. I didn't realize he was manipulating me, trying to keep it where I couldn't find someone better."
"What changed?" Sam asked, trying to imagine this fit woman who sat across from him as a fat one.
"I did. Mike started to talk about children. The idea of bringing someone into the world, it made me evaluate my life. I decided that I wasn't happy just to work at Wal-mart, and raise babies the rest of my life. Somewhere, I decided that I wanted to be someone before I made someone. So, I went back to school. I decided I was gonna be a doctor. I started going to the campus gym 5 days a week. In the 2 years it took to get my associates degree, I lost 100 pounds. Mike realized I was becoming someone he'd have to keep happy to keep. I started telling him 'no' about things, became assertive. He didn't like that. He wanted a woman who'd stick by him no matter the shittiness he pulled. I was gonna stay, though. I didn't want to be a statistic. I didn't want to have to explain to my oldest sister that she was right about him. I even considered letting him stay after I found pictures of him and his ex-girlfriend on his phone."
"That's terrible. He was a horrible guy, gaslighting you like that." Sam whispered.
"Yeah. It's okay, though. He got eaten by a giant demon dog a week ago. I figure that balances it." She said, pulling a forkful of hash browns to her mouth.