Chapter 4
"Come again?" asked Dean
"I went to see Gavin."
"I'm sorry, I must be hearing things. You just said you went to see Gavin?"
"Yes, Dean. I got on a plane. I flew to Chicago. I stayed at Gavin's place. You finished your case and now I'm back. Is it clear now?"
"Hey, don't be a smart ass," said Dean, as he rubbed his forehead. Jesus, this kid was making him crazy.
Laney huffed. Her nervousness about coming clean with her brothers had suddenly dissipated and was replaced with annoyance.
"Why would you go see Gavin after what he did to you?" Dean asked, legitimately confused.
Laney sighed deeply. "It's all water under the bridge now."
"Water under the bridge?!" Dean sputtered. "Unbelievable." Dean turned towards Sam, who was being awfully quiet.
"Did you know about this?"
"No, Dean, I didn't tell him, so don't start in on him."
Sam huffed. Laney had her reasons. Whatever they were, he would talk to her about it later, but time spent on this was time wasted, when he could be looking for a way to save his big brother.
"She's an adult, Dean," Sam said, finally.
Laney's eyes widened in surprise. Not exactly the reaction she expected from Sam, but welcome nonetheless.
"Fantastic," muttered Dean. No back up on this one.
"Okay, then what happened in Chicago?"
"Let's go inside and get some food," said Laney, pointing to the restaurant.
Dean glared at her.
"Pie, Dean."
Dean's stomach involuntarily grumbled at the thought. "Fine," he said, as he walked off.
Laney heaved a huge sigh. Telling Dean what she'd done was actually the easy part if she really thought about it. Now she had to explain why.
The hostess quickly settled them into a booth, Laney quickly scooching in next to Sam to avoid sitting next to Dean, who wasted no time ordering, forcing his siblings to order quickly too.
"So, start talking," said Dean, as soon as the waitress left.
"I needed a friend," Laney said, simply.
"Since when did Gavin regain friend status."
"Since, I found out my brother is going to Hell in a year."
Dean's jaw clenched.
"Does he know something or someone that can help?" Sam asked hopefully, finally deciding to say something.
Dean shot his brother a dirty look. Sam was thinking about this all wrong.
"No, actually," said Laney quietly, as she started fiddling with the creamers on the table.
Sam's shoulder sagged.
"Listen, I needed a friend, someone I can talk to outside of the two of you. It's hard," she said, pointing at her head. "All the noise in here. Being around you… Dean, I can feel the demon mark on your soul, every second I'm around you, I feel it."
Dean's brow furrowed. He knew what he had done was emotionally painful for her. He just didn't realize that it was physically painful. Or maybe she had mentioned it. Who knew? He'd been distracted in the last couple of weeks. Obviously, if he let his sister go off to Chicago without even double checking. He sighed and motioned at her to continue.
"And, I needed the space. I know what Gavin did was really shitty. But he didn't exactly do anything wrong. He and I were not a thing. He didn't have any commitment to me. I forgive him. I put him in that spot. I pushed him away…despite all that, I trust him. He cares about me. I need, I just…I needed him. It's as simple as that. I'm sorry, I didn't tell you, but I knew how you'd react. All this…" She said, circling her hands in the air, "Everything inside me," she paused. "My powers," she said lowering her voice to a near whisper. "It's so big, and what you're facing Dean, it's…it's…I can't wrap my head around it…and I needed someone to help me forget for minute."
Dean sat back in the booth. What could he say to that really? He'd been going full speed ahead since the deal, set on living in the moment, set on fulfilling his fantasies. He hadn't allowed himself to even thing about what he was facing. Not really. But his sister couldn't forget. She could feel it physically. Sam couldn't forget. Sam and his guilt. Laney and her pain. He was responsible for it all. He was supposed to protect them, not cause them pain.
"Here's your food," said the waitress, laying out a platter in front of them. The siblings quieted down while she served them. When she left. Laney started picking at her food. She suddenly wasn't all that hungry. Dean took a bite out of his burger, while Sam stirred his coffee, his expression very far away.
"Dean," Laney said softly. She waited for him to look at her. "I should've told you I was going but I knew you would stop me. But you need to understand, forget the fact that I'm legally adult… I've earned the right to make my own decisions. I don't need to run everything by you anymore. I am my own person."
"If something had happened to you, we wouldn't have known," said Sam, before Dean could.
"You're right," she conceded, "And I will tell you from now on…but I won't be asking permission."
Dean's jaw clenched. Sam looked at him expectantly. This was big. This was a crossroads in the relationship between him and Laney. Dean could be Dean and refuse her the autonomy she was asking for, demand she follow his rules. Or he could let his sister grow up.
"Fine," said Dean.
"Fine? Really?"
"Yeah, what more do you want?"
"Okay," said Laney, with a sigh. She finally took a bite of her food.
Dean put his fork down and pointed a finger at her. "But…I still think he's an asshole."
After a tense dinner, that included some delicious pie, that Dean delighted in. They were back on the road. And even though Laney figured all was going to be okay now, she was sorely mistaken.
"So," said Sam, dragging out the word. "I met a demon."
Laney sat up straight in the back seat and leaned forward. "You what?" she looked to Dean, who clearly already knew this story.
"Yeah, she showed up at the house back in Lincoln, the demon attack. She helped me out when you got knocked out."
"Son a bitch," muttered Laney. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"
"She didn't exactly say who she was that night. It wasn't until Cicero that she finally told me what she was."
"What does she want?" asked Laney, clenching her fists tightly. She was totally over demons.
"She says she can help us get Dean out his deal," said Sam.
"And you believe her?" asked Laney, loudly. "I can't believe you want to trust a demon. We trusted Simon, and look where it got us," she said, with disgust.
Sam huffed, clearly upset his sister wasn't on his side on this one.
"And you're sure she's a demon?" Laney asked.
Sam nodded his head. "Showed me the whole black eyes and all."
Laney nodded her head in disbelief, "I want to meet her."
"The hell you will," said Dean.
"Hey, I'm the one with the powers here Dean. I can sense what she really is. Get an idea of what she really wants.
"No, you are staying away from her," insisted Dean.
"Did we not just have a discussion about me making my own choices?"
"This is not the same thing."
"Oh, it isn't?"
"No, it's not!"
"Guys, can you please?" begged Sam. "I'm with Dean on this Laney. You've been warned before about demons being after you. We can't take a chance."
"We can't take chance, but you're willing to trust her and you want me to trust her too?"
"I don't necessarily trust her. But she says she wants to help, and I'm willing to check anything that can possibly help Dean out. Aren't you?"
That effectively shut Laney up. Sam was right. If there was even a chance, they had to take it. She pushed away from the front seat and sunk down in her own. Her head had started pounding after they left the restaurant. The headaches that she'd been experiencing since Cold Oak, came and went at will it seemed, with alarming frequency. Sometimes they were painful enough she couldn't ignore them, and they brought her down. She had no idea if it was Dean's demon mark, an after effect of killing yellow-eyes, something to do with her powers, or just plain old stress.
She dug down into her backpack and took out a couple of painkillers and a bottle of water. Usually she rode even the intense headaches out without meds, but she was so tired of dealing today.
"Headache?" Dean asked softly, as he met her eyes in the rearview mirror.
Laney nodded as she swallowed the pills.
"Try and get some rest, we've got a few hours before we'll stop for the night."
Laney laid down on the backseat, pulling her hoodie over her eyes. What a few days it had been. Gavin and the short time she'd spent with him. His declaration of love. She hadn't even had a chance to turn that over in her head. Did she love him too? She wasn't really sure. She cared about him no doubt. She definitely had some kind of feelings for him, but love? What would that mean? Could they even have a future? She was a hunter. He wasn't. He had a life in Chicago; a business. How could they even fit their lives together?
Ugh, she thought. This was going to make her crazy. Instead of thinking about everything was wrong, she hung on to the memories of everything that felt right, and as the fuzzy warmth of the painkillers began to flood her body, she let those thoughts carry her off to sleep.
It was the lack of the roaring engine noise of the Impala that woke her up. Bright lights of some random truck stop filled her eyes. It was night now, so she'd been asleep awhile, and thankfully, her headache had dissipated.
She climbed out of the backseat to find Sam was filling the tank and Dean probably inside getting snacks.
"What time is it?" she asked with a yawn.
"Nine," he said.
"It's getting late, are we stopping for the night?"
"Actually, we got a call. Apparently, Dad had a storage locker we didn't know about. Got a call it was broken into, so we're heading up there now."
"Really, a storage locker?" asked Laney in surprise.
"Yep."
"Huh."
"Yeah, huh," said Dean, approaching with a bag full of food and a beef jerky stick hanging out of his mouth. Laney smiled fondly, Dean always got road snacks as though they were the last supper.
"Where's it at?" she asked.
There was a brief pause. "Buffalo."
Laney blanched, and both her brothers looked at her expectantly. Buffalo was where she discovered the dead body of Darla, the woman whose plight had haunted her. She'd been linked to a reaper. It's what had set the whole trajectory her life was taking. It was not a happy place, nor one she'd wanted to see again.
"The storage place is just outside of the city, town called Black Rock," said Sam.
Laney nodded slowly. "Okay."
Sam knew what was going through her head. He let Dean take over the gas pump and put an arm around his sister. "Hey, we're going to get our own snacks," he said to Dean.
"What's wrong with mine?"
Sam rolled his eyes and steered his sister towards the truck stop shop.
"You alright?" he asked, quietly.
"Yeah."
"Really?"
"No."
Sam pulled her into his side. He sighed heavily. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Ruby right away."
"I understand."
"I don't want there to be secrets between us. Especially when it comes to trying to get Dean out of his deal."
"I know Sam. I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was going to Chicago, but it didn't have anything to do with Dean's deal, so I didn't figure it would matter to you."
Ouch.
Sam winced like he'd been punched.
"Sorry, Sammy. That was super bitchy of me."
"Yeah, but I may have deserved that one."
"No –
"Yes," Sam interrupted. "I've been one track mind here."
"Sam, I get it."
"Let me finish."
Laney nodded at him to continue.
"I haven't taken a moment to ask you how you've been doing. About the headaches, about your powers, about the weather, you name it. I haven't taken the time. And I know Dean's been…preoccupied," Laney snorted. "So, I actually completely understand why you went to see Gavin."
Laney sighed. "It's not that I feel ignored. I don't Sam. I want to save Dean just as bad as you do. I just, I don't want all the other stuff to distract from that, so I called Gavin."
"Did it help?"
Laney smiled, and Sam noticed how big and genuine it was. "It did. It was a few days of normal. No hunting, no talking about hunting. No anything."
Sam smiled. "Yeah, I remember those years at Stanford, with Jess. They were good. Normal is good."
"Yeah, but normal isn't us. I wish it was."
Sam sighed, heavily, and pulled his sister in tightly. "Me too baby, me too."
It was early morning hours when they pulled into the storage facility at Black Rock. Sam finessed the keys to the locker and they made a move to enter with no idea what to expect. Dean unlocked the padlock and all three of them turned on their flashlights. Dean drew his gun just to be on the safe side. Who knew what their Dad had been storing.
Laney coughed at all the dust. "Doesn't seem like he'd been here for a long time."
Sam nodded.
Dean pointed his flashlight on the ground. There was a Devil's trap painted.
"No demons allowed," huffed Laney.
"Look…blood," said Dean pointing at bloody footprints. "Check this out."
"Is that some kind of trip wire?" asked Sam.
Dean nodded. "Whoever broke in got tagged. And it looks like it was a two-man job."
Laney was barely paying attention to her brothers, shining her light all over the room. The walls were lined with boxes, guns, artifacts. All kinds of interesting items he must have obtained over the years. This was going to be awesome to look through. Laney winced as she passed a wall. Sharp pain pinching between her eyes. She took in a sharp breath.
"You okay over there?" asked Dean, not missing the change in her breathing.
Laney nodded, the pain was receding already. "Yeah, it's just you know this stuff gives off energy. I'm feeling it."
Dean shot Sam a worried look. "You know, if you want to wait outside…"
"Hell no," scoffed Laney. "I feel like Indiana Jones right now. I want to see what's inside."
Sam chuckled. He was pretty excited himself.
Dean shook his head. "Nerds," he said with affection.
"Hey, look at this," said Laney, pulling an old dusty trophy off a shelf. "1995 Division Championship soccer," she read.
"Woah, I can't believe Dad kept that," said Sam, taking it from her.
Dean pulled an old shotgun off a shelf. "Hey! It's my first sawed off. Made it myself in sixth grade," he said grinning widely.
"Look," said Laney. She picked up a box and pointed to the symbols inscribed on the side. "This is binding magic. I've seen this at Bobby's. They're curse boxes."
"They're supposed to keep evil mojo in, right?" asked Dean.
Laney nodded. "Yeah, they contain the power of whatever cursed object is inside."
"So cool," said Sam, grinning at his sister.
Dean rolled his eyes. "You know, Dad's journal mentioned a bunch of stuff. Like dangerous hexed items. He never did say where they ended up."
"So, this must the place," said Sam.
Laney studied the shelf and noticed a rectangular shape in the dust. "Yep, and I think one of those boxes is missing," she said, pointing to the dust free spot.
"Let's hope they didn't open it," said Dean.
Laney snorted. "If they took this one thing, then they must have known exactly what was in the box."
"Yeah, I guess we're going to have to track it down. No telling what it might be," Dean agreed.
"Or what curse it's going to unleash," added Sam.
Laney continued searching the storage locker as her brothers talked over their next steps. In the corner she noticed a file cabinet and inside several file folders. She pulled out one, and much to her surprise it was full of drawings that she'd made for her father as a kid. She swallowed the lump in her throat. She had no idea he'd saved them. She felt a physically painful pang at his absence.
"Hey, uh, I think I'm going to stay here," said Laney, distractedly.
"What? Why?" asked Dean.
"Why not?" asked Laney. "I mean look at all this stuff. There could be something really useful here. Maybe something that can help you Dean."
"Yeah and probably some really dangerous stuff. I don't think it's smart leave you here alone."
This time Laney rolled her eyes. "Listen, I'm not super excited about the idea of hanging out in Buffalo tracking down whoever or whatever. I want to stay here, see what's around. Take an inventory. I won't mess with anything. I'm not stupid."
Dean and Sam did that thing where they look at each other and have a whole conversation without words. It aggravated Laney to no end. But she knew she'd gotten her way when Dean sighed.
"Fine," he said.
"Love you!" she said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.
"Just stay out of trouble," he grumbled.
"Me? More look you guys should stay out of his trouble."
Dean huffed as he kissed the top of her head and headed out of the storage locker.
Sam lowered his voice to a near whisper, "Search everything. Call Bobby if you need help identifying anything. Take pictures of it all. We can't haul all this away, but we can figure out what it is with his help."
"I'm on it Sammy."
Sam smiled. "I know you are." He ruffled her hair and took off after Dean.
Laney waited until she heard them get on the elevator before she closed the locker door and turned around to get to work.
Laney yawned, she'd been at it for nearly an entire day and she was feeling it. There were definitely some interesting finds. But nothing that seemed like it would be helpful to Dean. Most of it was low level voodoo stuff, curse boxes, hex bags; some spell books that might be useful. But nothing that jumped out as being important. She carefully took pictures of everything and made notes. She didn't dare open the curse boxes. She'd called Bobby a couple of times to ask him about certain symbols. Dean had called to let her know they had found the thieves and recovered the object from the box, but he didn't seem keen on telling her much more than that. He sounded preoccupied.
Among all the supernatural artifacts were pockets of things from their childhoods. Their father had kept arts and crafts projects they'd done in school, old trophies, report cards, all kinds of keepsakes from their childhood. It made her think of her father in a different light. She'd always imagined none of that was important to him. He was not the best father. He had many faults. But it was clear that he loved his children fiercely. Maybe all these things had provided him solace. She imagined that he'd lived a life filled with deep regret. She missed him.
She sighed heavily. She was never really going to know what went on inside that head of his. He was as much of an enigma in death as he had been in life.
She rubbed her eyes. She was getting tired, but it didn't seem like her brothers would be coming back for her anytime soon. She got up, stretching her back, when she stiffened suddenly. There was an awfully familiar buzz building at the back of her head and zipping through her spine.
"No freaking way," she muttered under her breath.
"I'm afraid so," said a voice from outside the closed door.
Laney flung it open angrily. "You have a lot of nerve."
"Hi Delaney, you're looking well."
"Fuck off, Simon."
"That language really doesn't become you."
Laney let loose a stream of curse words that would've made Dean proud.
"Are you finished?" he asked.
"What are you doing here?"
"It's been awhile, and I wanted to see how you were doing," he said, staying clear of coming inside. He saw the Devil's trap painted on the floor. He wouldn't fall for that a second time.
"Bull, you only show up when you want something."
"That's not true. I show up when I need to make sure you're keeping safe."
Laney's skin crawled, Simon's ice blue eyes practically glowed.
"Safe from what? You? How's life treating you since I got rid of Yellow-Eyes for you and your demon buddies? I thought you got what you wanted."
"Seriously. I'm just here to warn you to watch out."
"Watch out for what?"
"A demon named Ruby. She's been sniffing around from what I hear. Offering her services."
Laney perked up. "How do you know about that?"
"It's my job to know these things," he said.
"She one of yours?"
"A Renegade? Technically."
"Technically? What does that even mean?"
"She's sort of affiliated. But she's gone rogue on this one. We don't know exactly why she's suddenly taken an interest in saving Dean. Or claiming to want to save him anyway."
"Is there any truth to it? Can she save him?"
Simon's mouth twisted in a sideways grimace. "Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe. Possibly. Probably not."
Laney was growing more frustrated by the moment. "So, once again, useless."
"I know you're unhappy that I didn't interfere at Cold Oak, but I told you from the beginning that I'm not here to save Sam, I'm not here to save Dean. This is about you. It's always been about you."
"Preserving my life, includes preserving my family. If you know anything about us, you would know that much by now," she spat. "And besides, I thought that my destiny was killing yellow-eyes? I did that already. And look what it got me… nothing."
"Oh Delaney, I wish you knew the truth."
"So why don't you tell me? Why all this secretive double talk?"
"I can't. I'm not supposed to interfere."
"That makes no sense. You've interfered plenty. How about when the Feds got me?"
"I do have rules to follow. I bend them sometimes. Dance around them, but I have my limitations."
Laney threw her hands in the air in defeat. "Fine! Consider me warned about Ruby. I don't know what else you want from me."
Simons sighed. "How are you really? How are your gifts?" he asked.
"Painful."
"Yes, I've heard."
"You've heard. From where?"
"I have my ways," Simon straightened up, smoothing down his jacket. "I'm glad you're okay. The pain, I wish I could help you with it, but that's all on you."
"Of course it is," Laney snorted. "And I suppose you can't tell me anymore about these supposed gifts or where they come from?"
"All I can say, is they aren't connected to Sam. The gifts Sam has are of a different origin. And that will eventually put you and your brother at odds."
Laney's whole body tensed. "What are you talking about?" she demanded.
"I think I've said enough for now. Take care of yourself."
Laney took a step towards him, but in a flicker, he was gone. She shook her head in disgust. She really hated him.
Laney was flat out exhausted. She called her brothers to come get her, leaving out the part about Simon's visit. Dean had told her to stay clear, that there had been "complications" and they would connect with her as soon as they could. So, for now, she was on her own. She took a taxi to the nearest motel and checked in. She was too tired to think, too much had happened; the room with the supernatural treasures, Simon's visit. His usual song and dance of not really telling her anything but warning her to watch out for something, but he couldn't tell her what. It was ridiculous. She was more curious than ever about meeting Ruby. She wanted to know what she was about, wanted to get a feel for her presence. She didn't trust demons, even if they professed to be able to save Dean from his deal with Hell.
The constantly nagging headache was back probably due more to exhaustion and stress than anything else. After a long hot shower, she popped a painkiller and got her ass in bed for some real rest. There was only so much thinking she could do. She texted her brothers the motel information and settled in for the night.
It was a testament to how exhausted she was that it took her a moment to recognize the knocking on the door.
"Sleepy head, open up," sang Dean.
Laney jumped out of bed and opened the door. "Sorry," she said with a yawn.
"You look like crap," he said, with a smile.
"Funny."
Dean shrugged.
Laney looked over at her towering brother. "What happened to your shoulder?"
Dean's face darkened, he looked pissed.
"Did you find anything in the locker?" Sam asked, ignoring her question.
"No," she said, "What happened to your shoulder?" she asked again.
"A little run with this bitch named Bela," answered Dean. He sighed heavily, as he dropped his bag on the motel table. "Long story. Tell you about on the way out of this friggin' town. Once I've had a shower anyway."
"I hear that," Sam agreed.
"Well, I've got a story too," said Laney.
"Oh yeah," said Dean. "It's never gonna beat what we just went through."
"Maybe not, but it's a good one."
"What is it?" asked Sam, curiously.
Laney crossed her arms in front of her and took a deep breath. "Simon paid me a visit."