Highway To Hell

Chapter 6

Title:Highway to Hell

Author: Hadlee May

Fandom: Supernatural/Gilmore Girls

Rating: for Safety, 15+ for language

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls and Supernatural belong to their respective masters. Kinky as it sounds, (Suddenly imagining Dean in leather with a collar around his neck - good doggy) - that's not me.

Summary: Sam and Dean are trying their best to keep Rory Gilmore out of harms way, but a job pops up forcing them to join in the hunt for a devious ghost that is reeking havoc on a lonely Florida highway.

AN:

This story is getting complicated. For a while I'm going to be covering, like, three different stories inside one. I've got Logan, Tristan, the Winchesters + Rory. Not only that I've got a plot now, so.

Anyway, sorry it took so long to get this out. I've been writing this chapter over and over, unsure of what angle I wanted to put on it. Then, on top of that, I had a biology final, a final oral exam for French I, then my gerbil got out of his cage (with the help of my cats, of course) and I'm not sure if he's still running around the house or in my cat's belly. Either way, I'm kind of upset about it, Dax Lo was my boy.

Yeah. Anyway, I tried. I don't think it's that bad. At least, I hope it's not. I hope it brings some sort of insight into some stuff.

Enjoy. And please review.

Dedicated to: my cat Dexter, and my dog Pogue, who looked so cute tonight cuddling together. They inspired me to get off my ass and write.

Dean Winchester had never been 'that guy'. That guy being the kind of guy who worked hard at staying out of trouble for the sake of others. The kind of guy who went out of his way not to attract any unwanted attention, no matter how much they were dying for some kind of action. He couldn't afford to be. For as long as he could remember he'd been the 'shoot first, ask questions later' kind of guy. It was the guaranteed way to keep himself alive. There was even a small chance that it was an official family motto, passed down from father to son. He'd learned early on that there were penalties for thinking things through in his line of work. Thinking made way for consideration and consideration made way for hesitation. Hesitation was definitely not a term used much these days. Even after Rory had become an official passenger on their crazy travels throughout the states, he'd continued with his impulsive and constant life endangering decisions.

From the moment she'd entered their life, she'd been a mystery. He couldn't understand why this big bad demon, an evil creature that had caused the greatest amount of his hell for his family, would feel the need to attack this sweet, little, rich girl. Sure, she was pretty, but the demon had never considered looks as a priority when killing before, he didn't think it would stop now. It'd been Sam who had reasoned that there was a specific reason. She either had something it wanted or knew something it wanted to know. Rory Gilmore, though, was absolutely clueless to anything concerning the demon and it's needs. In fact, she'd lived a perfectly normal life up until that one point. Loving mother, absentee father, over bearing grandparents. She even had grown up in an ideal town where evil was practically non existent. Dean had once teased her that it was the consequence for leaving the nest. She'd mustered a hell of a lot of strength to punch him once in the arm in response.

After two months with her along, Dean would even dare to say he'd grown fond of her. As time went by, the narrowed down a list of possible reasons as to why she was so important. It'd been a fluke when they came across the tale of this great battle between good and evil. Rory had been drawn to it though, and it'd been Bobby who said that she was more important then any of them had thought. A birth mark on her right shoulder blade told every story they'd want to hear. She was in the middle of it, and it was their job to protect her. She seemed to enjoy their never ending road trip, though. She liked doing the research and making notes in John Winchester's journal. But then the dreams had started. The past two weeks had been hell. The whimpers that came from Rory's bed at night were frightening and unsettling. He knew she was witnessing something that no one should ever see. Predictions and possibilities of the future floated around in her head.

Ash had confirmed Rory's suspicions about Logan Huntzberger and Tristan DuGray. He'd done hours of tracking to find that a pattern existed in the two families to fit into the patterns that befell the two warring sides. She still felt uneasy discussing her relationship with Logan Huntzberger, who she was sure was a dark force at work. It'd been Ellen who suggested that due to the increasing nightmares, chances were that whatever was coming was going to come quickly.

It was because of this that Dean suddenly found himself at one of those moments when he found himself thinking…considering…hesitating. Rory needed their protection. Protection they couldn't give her while hunting. And so, with much considering…they'd stopped. They'd taken up residence in a tiny apartment above a fellow hunter's garage in sunny California, spending their days researching and their nights preparing for the inevitable.

The sun was just now rising on the horizon and Dean let out a long sigh as he slipped the last of the five bullets into the gun before setting it down on the small table that was placed out of the way against a wall. He turned his head towards the small living area where both Sam and Rory slept, each respecting their boundaries on the pull out bed offered to them. It'd been a long night, but Rory's nightmare had been brief.

Spinning back around he set aside the gun and pulled out another. He'd taken it apart carefully and slowly when he heard the couch bed creak. "Dean?" It was Rory. She wandered over to him quietly, plopping down in the chair next to him.

"Morning Rory." He pushed the pieces to his weapon away from him.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" She asked, fingering the weapon that had already been cleaned.

"A bit. After you're dream last night, I decided that cleaning my weapons would be a nice way to pass the time." Dean grinned. She winced at the mention of the dream. "How are you holding up anyway?" He asked, "I mean, I know this can't be easy for you. Can't contact your family, it's possible your ex boyfriend is the right hand of the devil, and you've got an evil demon that wants you dead…" He trailed off, a smirk easing it's way across his face.

"How am I holding up?" She grinned. "Dean, you've been stuck in the same city for nearly a week, I'm surprised you haven't started pulling your hair out, yet."

"It's not hard to fight the urge to pull out my lovely locks." He ran a hand through his hair, "I'm serious, though Rory." Dean said, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm afraid." she admitted after a moment.

"finally! A decent response out of you. After all you've been through, you're scared now?" He smiled.

"I'm afraid that I'm wrong." She said slowly. Dean gave her an inquisitive look. "About Logan. I'm afraid that he'll end up being the good guy and Tristan will end up being the bad guy…" She sighed. "When I went to school with Tristan, he was so annoying, teasing me and annoying me. If you would have asked me five years ago, I would have told you that Tristan was the devil." She laughed a bit at the statement. "Logan was so good to me." she confessed. "I mean, he treated me like a princess, always supporting me…" she trailed off. "he proposed to me, you know. Right before graduation. I told him no."

"Well, maybe that just means you made the right decision. Your dreams don't lie." Dean took in what she said before responding. He wasn't always sure how to respond to the things she said. He wasn't used to responding at all to girls like Rory.

"But how do we know that it isn't one of the abilities of one of the avatars?" She asked.

"Because, the information we've found says that the creature of darkness can only manipulate your mind when he touches you and as far as I know, there wasn't no creature of darkness anywhere near you." Dean touched her hand gently, quickly removing it before she thought more of the rare sign of affection.

"Ash says that Tristan will find me." Rory said slowly. "That if I'm this important, then he'll find me." Rory said quietly. Dean didn't say anything. "But I think what he meant to say was that I am important, and Logan will find me as well." She finished.

"Me nor Sam is going to let anything happen to you." Dean sighed, "That's why we've stopped, taken a break." Neither spoke afterwards. There didn't seem to be much left to say.

--

Hours later, the rest of the world awoke and Sam had found a reason to leave the tiny apartment and out into the real world. A trip to the grocery seemed an efficient enough excuse. They were running low on milk and cereal and if he knew his brother and Rory like he thought he did…it wouldn't last throughout the day. The only question was if he should get Lucky Charms or Trix.

"Do you really think hiding her is going to work?" The voice cut through his thoughts like a sharp knife, causing him to turn around sharply, ready to fight for his life. He was surprised to see a pretty girl standing behind him, dressed in tight black jeans a vintage tee shirt, long blonde hair curling over her shoulders. Had he not been trained to search out possible threats, he would have been fooled by her beautiful demeanor. His eyes met her steely blue ones.

"I'm sorry?" Sam asked.

"Does Rory Gilmore ring a bell?" She asked him, crossing her arms across her chest, looking at him like she knew far more then she was comfortable with. "The girl you took from the demon? Dark brown hair, pretty blue eyes, this tall?" She continued. "Don't play stupid, Sam." She said when he didn't respond.

"Who the hell are you?" Sam asked, grabbing a box of cereal off the shelf and throwing it into the basket. He started walking, hoping she would follow. She did.

"You can call me Ruby." she said slowly. "Listen, I usually make it a rule not to interfere, but, this time I couldn't help it. That girl is in danger, and you three are better off hopping from one town to the next instead of keeping her locked up in that tiny place."

"Well then, Ruby, what do you expect me to do?" Sam asked, annoyed.

"The dark one isn't going to wait forever. The demon has failed him many times, and it wont be long before he comes after the singer himself." Ruby said matter of factly. She turned towards a shelf, looking at a can, reading the label before putting back on the shelf.

"Singer?" Sam asked.

"That's what the avatars call girls like your friend. Singers." Ruby explained. Sam looked at her, pushing for an explanation. "Let's just say that there's something about that girl that's going to bring all the avatars to her."

"Well, that's helpful." Sam sighed.

"Listen, just keep the dark one away from her. He's a nasty piece of work." She warned. "It is said that he has tried to reach her in his dreams. It is his way of finding her. They are already connected."

"He's her ex boyfriend." Sam nodded, looking down. When he looked back up, she was gone.

--

Sam wasn't sure what to think as he pulled the impala back into the drive way. As he made his way back into the apartment, the two bags of groceries on his arm, he stopped at the sound of Rory and Dean arguing. It wasn't an odd occurrence, of course, but they sounded especially upset. Sam let himself in quietly, dropping the groceries by the door and closing it.

"Dean, come on!" Rory hollered as she tried putting some of her clothes in the her duffel bag. Dean was going right behind her and taking them out.

"Rory, it's not safe." Dean shook his head.

"It's not safe anywhere!" Rory was standing right next to Dean, digging her hands into the duffel bag to grab his in an effort to stop him. "If we stay here, we're not only keeping ourselves in danger, but also Danny and Elizabeth." Rory glared at him.

"And if we go, we run the risk that you get hurt. I can't allow that!" Dean grasped onto her wrists, pulling her away from the bed.

"Dean, you know we have to go, she wouldn't have called if she couldn't handle it." She jerked herself away and walked back towards the duffel bag, this time picking it up and stuffing what clothes she could find into it. Dean followed her, looking livid.

"Jo can handle this herself, she's not completely incompetent." He disagreed. "Besides, why do you care. You don't even like Jo. You're willing to risk your life to help her out?"

"And what are we going to do, Dean? Sit in this apartment day in and day out and wait for something or someone to find me?" Dean didn't reply but simply stared down at her.

"Um, hey guys." Sam said as the silence lingered, the air empty of sound except for two oppositions breathing heavily.

"Sam, you talk some sense into her." Dean finally said, his voice raised.

"What's going on?" Sam asked.

"Jo called." Rory stepped forward, picking up another top as she did. "She needs our help with a case she's working on in Florida. Something about a phantom highway…" Rory trailed off.

"Jo can handle herself, Sam. She's been in worse situations before."

"She's in possible danger and I'm going insane here." Rory stepped in.

"Dean, she may be right." Sam sighed. Dean stopped short, looking at his brother in pure shock. "Listen, at the store, I ran into somebody who knew that Rory was with us. She knew we were here and she said the dark one was getting impatient. That he would soon give up getting the demon to do his work and come after her himself. She's a sitting duck here." Sam got out all in one breath.

"Wait, what?" Rory asked.

"A girl, Ruby or something, she said that the avatar would find her. That she sings to him. She called Rory a singer." Sam said. "She also said that it was stupid to stop like this. That it makes her an easier target."

"Then let's pack up and go." Rory said, shoving her back at Sam and grinning, turning around, humming as she began to clean up their area.

"We're not done with this discussion." Dean spoke directly to her. Sam smiled slightly at his reaction. He figured Dean would have caved eventually. Rory had that way about her that made Dean turn to putty in her hands.

--

His grandfather had told him the story of the singers once. The story of a special girl who could enthrall a man such as himself and persuade him to do their biddings. Legend said they were beautiful beyond belief with entrancing eyes and pure souls. They were an avatars one weakness and one strength all at the same time. Their powers made them dangerous, but their abilities made them a great ally. It was said that a singer, paired with an avatar could produce the most powerful heir.

Tristan had thought it was merely a legend until he'd met the singer. A beautiful young girl with beautiful blue eyes. She was stubborn and wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. The boiling in his blood had cooled when his father had sent him away, but the yearning would never stop.

His grandfather had always said he had an advantage over the darkness. He had his own mind and his own opinions. He followed his path way with questions instead of blindly. He knew that if he found the singer, when he found the singer, not all would be perfect. His longing for the singer had stopped being physical years ago when he had seen the real person beneath. When he found his singer, he would do all that he could to keep her safe from the darkness.

Sighing, he slowed his speed a few miles as he passed the Florida state line. It was going to be a long day.

AN: That's it. Not much, but, I'm trying to amp things up a bit. I've been thinking, though, and I wondered. Should I insert a phone call between Rory and her mother? Like one of those 'don't worry about me, I'm fine, don't look for me calls?" My plan, though, is to introduce Tristan in the next chapter to Rory and the guys. I dunno. Give your opinions on what you think. Oh, and sorry if it was boring. I was trying to show this emotional bond the guys have formed with Rory over time…especially Dean.

Review, please.