All three came up to Ms. Collins's small shack around the downtown area of Grand Junction, Colorado and Dean knocked on the glass door shielding a bug screen and a sort of thin tapestry blinding the outside from the inside of the house.
A healthy, short woman with dark mid-length hair and bright eyes opened the door. "Yes?" She spoke with a raised eyebrow, looking up at the three people who looked confident yet concerned.
"Haley Collins?" Dean asked.
"Yeah."
"We're Federal Marshalls investigating your concern for your brother's disappearance."
Haley seemed to not believe them and stated rather than asked, "Let me see some ID."
Dean showed his fake badge corresponding to his fake identity corresponding to his 'I'm Okay' persona. Haley nodded and let them in.
Walking in, they saw a cluttered but breathable living space with minimalistic lighting, being led to a kitchen bunched into a dining room where Haley's younger brother was served the food Haley had just made for him. They learned his name was Ben before Haley got her laptop out and showed them, explaining, "He always sends a small video every night. He's on a camping trip with friends and we like to keep each other close. We're all we really have."
"Maybe he can't get a signal." Charlie suggested.
Haley shook her head and explained, "He has a satellite phone."
Dean shrugged, "Maybe he just forgot."
Ben dug the hilt of his spoon to the table suddenly and replied in a strained voice, "He wouldn't do that to us." Staring ahead at point blank. It was clear to all three that Ben was not a completely healthy person, mentally. But it also was none of their business.
Sam nodded and spoke "Okay. Could you show us one of the videos?" He asked Haley.
Haley nodded and pressed the play button. It was a the eldest Collins brother in a tent, saying, "Hey guys, day four of our camping trip. I miss you guys and hope to see you soon." Or something along those lines. Charlotte wasn't really paying that much attention, her mind elsewhere.
Sam exhaled deeply and nodded, giving Haley his email address and asking her to email the video to him so he could further examine it.
Going back into the car, Charlotte beat Sam to the front seat and stuck her tongue out at him. Sam did the same with a childish noise and Dean rolled his eyes at the immaturity of his family. Dean got in the driver's seat and cruised around town looking for a motel to unpack in.
While Dean was driving, Charlotte felt a flick to her ear and turned around, swatting it away and looking at Sam who gave her a falsely innocent shrug, and she raised a brow. "Okay, so it must have just been a ghost."
"You never know." Sam shrugged.
"So what'd you see in the video?" She asked, curious.
"Something in the background caught my eye. Maybe nothing." He shrugged. Sam was always the 'better safe than sorry' kind of attitude, though 'safe' probably wasn't the right word for it. More like 'better sure than dead'.
They got to an old motel called Prospector's Beacon and Dean signed them in, getting Charlie her own room again and getting one room for the brothers. They dropped off their stuff and as Charlotte was unpacking what she needed for maximum the two days they'd need, a knock came to her door.
"It's open!" She called back, her back to the door but her hand on a standard nine mill.
"Well that's not very safe." Sam teased, poking his head out the door and Charlotte turned around, showing him the silver loaded gun. Sam smiled and bowed his head down "Okay, you win. There's no Wi-Fi here so I can't get the email. Dean and I are going to a bar, wanna tag along?" He spoke in a mock condescending tone.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Dean says you probably need your beauty sleep."
Charlotte snorted a laugh and said, "Beauty sleep, my ass. Did you tell him he might need the same?"
Sam laughed and nodded "Okay, okay, let's go then." He opened the door a bit more and Charlotte got her wallet and gun, stuffing those towards the back of her body and fitting on her black leather jacket. Sam did a teasing wolf whistle at her and she blushed ever so slightly, having been looking at herself in the mirror.
When she passed Sam she raised a brow and said, "What? We can't all check how we look before we walk out the door."
Sam laughed and asked, "Is that how it's gonna be?"
"Whatever 'it' is, I'm sure it's going to go that way." She replied passively as she walked by Sam.
Sam looked down at her with a playful admiration about her before realizing they stopped walking and Dean had cleared his throat, "You guys done flirting?"
"Not yet." Charlie winked at Dean.
Dean groaned a laugh, looking up and getting in the driver's seat, "Just get in the damn car."
"Alright, alright. I'm just saying: Are you sure you're not from Tennessee?" Charlotte began. The boys groaned. "Cause you're the only ten I see. Actually, no, there's also Sam." She flirted playfully.
She saw their 'seriously?' faces from the front mirrors and said "Okay, Dean, since you're so much better than me at scoring a few digits, let's make a bet. I think I'll wager I get dick before you get any p-"
"Hey, I think this place might have Wi-Fi." Sam interrupted and Dean parked up to the classic bar. After parking, he turned around to face Charlotte and said, "You're on." with a shit-eating grin. Charlotte returned it.
Getting out of the car, she replied, "I'm so gonna win."
"You wish, Princess." Dean called back, swaggering into the bar while Sam bustled behind them with his computer bag and charger chord.
Charlotte sat at the bar, waiting for the waitress to pass by and ask for her order. The young woman with long dark hair, an aggressively pale complexion, and with curves lining her silhouette asked her, "What can I get you?"
"Scotch, thanks." She smiled over at her and the barkeep went to get her drink, coming back later with the drink. She'd noticed the woman had taken extra time off from getting her drink but didn't notice her new coat of paint and fixed hair brushed behind her ears that had big black hoops through the lobe as ear rings.
Charlotte looked back at Dean for a moment, he was chatting with some guy that was there, seeming to have forgotten about the wager. He was having a pretty decent time talking to this other guy who also had dark hair but was on the tanner side than Miss Waitress.
"So it's my break now…" The woman said.
"Okay. Wanna play darts?" Charlotte smiled, always friendly and welcoming to strangers that didn't raise red flags.
"Sure. My name's Cynthia." Cynthia smiled and shook Charlie's hand.
"Charlie. Well, Charlotte, but you get the point." Charlotte smiled.
They went over to play darts and Charlie was getting all them at least toward the center while Cynthia was getting them way off.
Not completely thinking, Charlotte went up behind Cynthia, holding back the hand that the bartender held the dart in and helped her through shooting a dart that Cynthia clearly knew how to. She had her body against Cynthia's and said "Just close the eye furthest from the dart and," she moved Cynthia's body with hers to exemplify how to throw a dart. It landed at the bull's eye when Cynthia tried again.
By the end of the game, Charlotte had crushed Cynthia's score and went back to the bar where Cynthia resumed her shift.
"I have one more hour of work if you'd like to stick around." Cynthia gave a sideways smirk, looking Charlotte up and down.
"Not sure I'll be here that long. The motel I'm at doesn't have Wi-Fi so I came here with my friend so he could do some research. He's usually pretty good about it."
"Well then maybe I can give you my number and next time you're in town we can…I don't know, throw darts again?" Cynthia sighed, leaning over the counter to look into Charlotte's eyes and Charlie finally got the hint.
Being bi-curious, Charlie wasn't going to shoot her down by saying she didn't play for that team, so she played her Dean card and said, "I totally would, but I can't right now. My boyfriend probably wouldn't be happy seeing me with another woman, you know?" She said it all hush-hush, nudging her head toward Dean who was blushing madly with wide eyes at the man he had been so easily talking to.
"You mean the closet case?" Cynthia replied.
Before that, Charlotte had been considering accepting Cynthia's offer, but by the way she just called Dean a closet case as if it was a bad thing, she didn't want to be anywhere near that kind of intimate with that woman.
"Yeah, we're done here." Charlie paid for the drink and took a seat next to Sam who was at a table with ear buds on.
Charlie was fuming. So what if Dean was a bit in the closet? What was so bad about not knowing who you are in your 20s? Dean never got the chance to find himself; he always had to be someone else. That someone else being whoever John wanted to mold him into. Dean is allowed as much time as anyone else to find out who he is. And if he isn't comfortable around men sexually, so be it. And if he is, whatever he decides he is, it will be good enough for her. Dean could take all the time he wanted. It was his time and no one else's. How dare Cynthia judge him for taking time to continue finding himself? As if she had everything sorted out about herself.
After a minute, Dean sat down next to Charlie, tip of the ears still burning, Charlotte asked, "You okay?"
"I'M NOT GAY, OKAY." Dean said, clear stress in his voice.
"Okay." Charlotte smiled to herself and messed his hair up.
