Chapter Nine: Little Disappearing Lass

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

The air was cold. Chilled, it bit at the skin of the three travelers on the late September afternoon. Two men walked in the front, shotguns nestled in the crooks of their arms as their gaze swept across the road. A young woman followed behind them, strolling casually, her dark eyes alert as she watched the shadows between the towering pine trees. One man was tall, standing several inches above six feet. The other was shorter, only five foot ten. They were moving towards the outskirts of the small town of Rock Springs. The two men carried shotguns and packs on their backs, the young woman carried nothing, her hands stuffed deep into the pockets of her loose leather jacket. Her dark eyes silently scanned the area and there was a curious smile playing on her lips. Contrary to Gail Olivia Spark's casual indifference, Sam and Dean Winchester watched the broken road nervously, their eyes and ears alert, expecting an attack from any direction.

The main street leading into Rock Springs was wide. Fresh green lawns dotted either side of the two sidewalks, looking homely and friendly in front of old time, two story brick buildings. A forest green sign with golden, blocky lettering and the picture of a jumping bass beneath it jutted out from one of the taller buildings. It read: "Ammo, Rods and Reels" in down the side in evenly spaced bullet points. Below it and to the right was a broken sign advertising a sale. Cars were parked in driveways along the streets as a cool breeze blew through town. It was eerily quiet, without even a breeze to rustle the tall bushes planted up and down beside each of the houses. With no sign of people or movement, the Winchester brothers were beginning to feel unnerved. They'd experience similar phenomena before during an incident two years ago when an entire town disappeared, but here it was strange. They knew that demons, or what they liked to call demons had attacked the town. The question was, where was Rufus and the rest of the townspeople?

Sam constantly glanced back over his shoulder at Gail, while his brother purposefully kept his eyes straight ahead. "Think we should have given her a weapon?" He asked. He knew his brother didn't care much for Gail, especially not after she'd clocked him across the jaw and sent him sprawling. Not that it wasn't deserved. He was fairly sure that the strange young woman could look after herself. She didn't seem the least bit worried about wandering into a town potentially infested with demons. She kinda looks like she's out for a stroll in the park. Sam knew that should unnerve him, but it didn't. Instead, he found it strangely comforting.

"No." Dean said, his voice gruff as he stared up an empty gravel trail. He saw nothing at the end of it except houses. But there wasn't any movement in the windows or signs of actions. If the bitch takes a bullet to the head my life might get a whole lot easier. Dean twitched and lifted his fingers to the purple bruise that was spread under his chin. Pressing it, he winced. It'd been a few hours and his jaw was still stinging from Gail smacking him. How strong was she anyway? I should've asked Bobby to try and research these Eternals… Was that what they were called? Dean shook his head and kept walking. Let Sammy try to play the nice guy, that bitch'll bite him just like Ruby. Dean was done playing Mr. Intervention. If Sammy wanted to hang himself out to dry, he was more than welcome to. Just so long as he doesn't get anybody else killed.

"Look Dean," Sam began. He knew he was already on thin ice but he didn't feel right just leaving the girl afloat with nothing solid to protect herself. He didn't know what sort of powers or tricks she had and he was fully aware that the girl was more skilled than both of them at hand to hand. But sometimes magic and fists aren't enough. He knew that from first hand experience. "I know Gail's not your favorite person right now…"

Irritated, Dean's pace quickened. "If she wanted one she'd of asked, Sammy!"

"Dean!"

Dean came to a dead stop at the center of the road and turned to look back at his brother. His hazel eyes narrowed as he watched Gail do a strange hop, step, jump more than a few paces behind them. He was relieved to see that her eyes were on the sky, dreamily staring off into space. He didn't want her to overhear what he was about to say. "Get a grip Sammy," he growled. "The only reason you care right now is because that bitch messed with your mind!"

Sam blinked and took a step backwards. "Wait." His voice rose an octave. "What?"

"Admitted it herself." Dean said. He couldn't keep a note of triumph from his voice. Gail wouldn't have any sway over Sammy after this. He didn't care what his brother did, but Sam needed to know the truth. And I won't have to deal with him taking anyone else's side over his brother's. "That's why you handed shotgun over to her."

Sam shook his head. "Dean, I gave her the front to be nice."

"No," Dean snapped. "She used her mental voodoo on you to get what she wanted. Used something she called spiking, made you fall in love with her."

"I'm not in love with her, Dean."

"Could've fooled me, Sammy. You've been bending over backwards ever since she showed up!"

Sam sucked in a deep breath. "It's because you're been a dick!" He snapped. "Not because I'm in love!" He wasn't in love with Gail. The only woman he'd ever truly loved was Jess. Madison ran a close second, but he'd never had time to get to know her. It was the same with Sarah. Gail was just… Well… I find her attractive and odd. She was also the only person who wasn't blaming him for what happened. [I[But that's not why I'm being nice. Sure, he'd felt something when she'd asked for the front seat. His heart had quickened and he'd thought… Is Dean right? They didn't know Gail. There was a good chance that they couldn't and shouldn't trust her. But… Sam glanced back over his shoulder at her. Gail was looking at them now, her head tilted to the side, one dark eyebrow quirked. Her lips were pursed. Sam waited for his heart to skip a beat, but it didn't.

Dean couldn't believe that Sam was skeptical. After everything they'd seen, how could Sam doubt him? Sam was the one who'd made all the bad choices lately, if he'd just listened to Dean then they wouldn't be in their current mess. "Don't believe me, Sammy? Ask her yourself!"

Sam shook his head.

"Whatever." Dean said and continued on into the town.

Nestling his shotgun in the crook of his arm, Sam turned and dropped back to Gail's side. Silently, seeing her inquisitive expression he shook away his doubts and swallowed. Shrugging his backpack into a better position, he said. "Hey, I got a handgun in the pack. It's not much, but it's yours if you want it."

"Won't be necessary." Gail said.

With a cough, Sam added. "Dean said he'd take point. He sent me back here to look after you."

Gail snorted and glanced up at him, a wry smile on her lips. "Sure, he did."

Sam stopped, silent. She kept walking and Sam fell into step beside her. Not knowing how to get her talking again or broach the subject of what had happened by the car, Sam was quiet. An awkward silence settled between them as they made their way towards the center of town. Sam tried to keep his eyes on lookout, scanning the area. Before them, an aqua colored sedan was overturned, the glass of its window scattered across the pavement. The roof was crushed. They watched the broad back of Dean Winchester move forward to check it out. Sam glanced at Gail, her head had tilted to the side and her tongue chased over her lips. He couldn't tell if she was worried.

Sam swallowed. "Think something strong did that?"

"Could be." Gail shrugged.

Sam sighed. She was being oddly abrupt. Maybe she switched out personalities. He'd only met Mace once and she, he, it or whatever hadn't seemed to interested in him. Or Dean. Which was unusual. All the angels and demons that they'd met had some recollection of who they were. Mace hadn't and Gail didn't really seem to care that they were the Winchesters. She just likes telling us how stupid we are. And that they were wrong all the time. "Are you okay?"

Gail groaned. She looked up at him with a frown, her hands fleeing her pockets to find shelter in the crooks of her elbows as her arms crossed over her chest. "Why don't you just ask what it is you want to ask, Sam? Let's get it out of the way so you can focus on this not so very dangerous town, the overturned cars, and the blood spattered streets."

"Blood spattered?"

Gail's finger lifted and pointed beyond the aqua colored car to a large smear of red that was visible beneath a brown and yellow flapping banner. "You know, they were having a celebration here. Maybe they've got some left over cakes or something." She patted her stomach mournfully. "I'm getting hungry. I'm gonna go look for some."

Sam's jaw worked soundlessly as she sprang forward into a purposeful trot, making her way around the overturned cars towards the abandoned stores that lined Main Street. "How could she possibly know that?" He glanced at his brother.

Dean rolled his eyes and stood. "She's more retarded than we are?"

Ahead of them, Gail stopped and turned. "No, asshole." She said. "It's because the missing bodies," she lifted her fingers and motioned towards the destruction littering the street: the broken windows, the cars, and the crimson blood splattered on the pavement that was pooling and dripping off the sidewalks. "Haven't started to smell yet." She tapped her skull. "It's my magical powers of deduction and logical thought, try them sometime."

"I knew that." Dean growled. "It was too obvious to mention, we've seen corpses before."

"Yeah? Good." Gail said. "Now, see if you can follow this thought to its conclusion without the train derailing." She tossed her head. "The good news is that no one's having a barbeque, which means we're not facing an invading horde of intelligent human eating monsters. Lucky us. The bad news… Well, the bodies got up and wandered off. Maybe the dead finally figured out how to get back into 'em. That'll be fun. If so, then this apocalypse is starting earlier than scheduled and we've got the fun and funny zombies to deal with. The question becomes which kind? The shamblers? The runners? The smart ones? The dumb ones? Is it a necromancer started virus? There really are too many questions to ask and they can only be answered with more data." She tilted her head to the side. "We should go get some."

"Rufus said there were demons." Dean snapped. "They're probably all possessed."

"All of them?" Gail shook her head. "A town like this'll have at least a couple hundred residents, if not more, and you want to believe that all of them are possessed? There's no reason for several hundred demons to show up here. This town isn't worth anything."

"Since when do demons ever need an excuse to start trouble?" Dean fired back.

"But how do you know they're demons?" She looked a little cross. "Just because your hunter friend said they were? That's sort of naïve. Anyway, to get low-grade destruction like this, you don't even need one. Frankly, there's not enough blood for it to be a demon and this kind of thing isn't their style. Though it would explain the lack of bodies."

"I don't think I want to ask…" Sam began. Somehow he knew he would regret bringing up the question. "What does it look like…"

"They like to splatter people's insides all over the walls." She said. "Especially when they're having fun." Gail sighed. "Here's a quick and dirty explanation: demons just like angels except that they have a sense of humor."

"Right." Dean said.

Gail continued. "And if you mean your hellspawn thingies, again, in a town like this there's no reason to have more than one. Maybe two. Maybe. If that's true, then where are the rest of the bodies?"

"We don't know yet." Sam said. She was making an interesting point he thought and placating her was probably in their best interests. He didn't even need to glance at his brother to know that Dean was getting fed up with this whole conversation. "That's what we're trying to figure out."

"Right, right." Gail smiled. "I knew I was missing a step. God, you people are slow."

Sam fixed her with a long glare, hating how distracting she was being. He got the feeling that she was intentionally provoking them. Dean especially. And even though there was the possibility of an attack from anywhere, she was nonchalantly relating these facts like they were on a leisurely stroll. Not in the middle of a clearly war torn small town. It was information that would have been useful before they'd come and he opened his mouth to ask if there was anything more she knew, but his brother cut him off.

Dean growled. "Let's get moving." And stomped down the street, eager to get away from the strange girl as fast as humanly possible.

How could the sight of destruction and blood possibly make her hungry? He could understand being aroused but hungry? How the hell do you get that desensitized? He didn't care. Either way, they still had to find Rufus. Maybe he could tell them what was going on. And get Gail to stop being a pain in the ass. It wouldn't do any good talking to her, not know and he wasn't in the mood to get lectured or hit again. Stupid, fucking little know it all. Taking a deep breath, knowing that he was several feet ahead of her again, he slowed to a walk and began examining the streets again.

The closer they got to the center of the town, the worse the destruction looked. Shop windows were busted, cars were overturned, and electric sparks shot off broken fuse boxes. Blood painted the tables of the local diner and the jagged remains of the large glass panes that had once been windows. Walking past a cherry red Mustang parked along the sidewalk, Dean whistled with appreciation. It was a nice vehicle and still in perfect condition. He checked back over his shoulder at Gail and Sam, the two were walking side by side again. Gail was to be back in cloud cuckoo land, staring up at the clouds in wide-eyed contemplation. Her hands linked behind her back. Dean was suddenly very glad that Sam hadn't given her a gun.

Don't want her misfiring the thing and giving away our position. If all that racket she'd been making hadn't done that already. Some help she is. Why had the angels even sent her? Dean understood that she was strong and seemingly knowledgeable but her attitude didn't help the situation. Then again, when has any angel besides Anna or Cas even tried to be helpful? She constantly reminded him that the angels hadn't sent her to help. But Dean didn't understand how a person could look at all of this and not feel something. Someone who doesn't isn't human. But she constantly reminded them of that too. Crossing the street and heading towards a white, wood paneled church Dean motioned for Sam to catch up. He heard his brother's quiet footsteps and felt the small push of air as Sam came up beside him. He didn't look back to see where Gail was. He assumed that she could handle herself. Probably better than Sam can.[/I[ He glanced at his brother and motioned to the long smeared trail of blood that had dried into a rusty colored purple. There was a good chance that they'd find answers in that building.

There was a click behind them, the sound of a pistol being cocked.

Together, Dean and Sam spun around, shotguns raised and ready. They were surprised by who they saw. It was the familiar face of an old friend.

"Ellen?" Sam asked. His voice betraying his own disbelief, Rufus hadn't said anything about there being other hunters in the town. But given his predicament at the time he'd called, it was understandable that he'd neglected some details. Worried, Sam looked around for Gail. She'd been behind them. And she doesn't know Ellen. His eyes scanned the area behind their old friend.

"Hello boys." Ellen said. She kept her pistol raised, the barrel trained on Dean's chest, her thumb twitching on the safety. Her index finger was looped around in front of the trigger and calm. Ellen didn't look nervous, just cautious. Cool and ready to shoot. Then, she smiled and lowered her gun. She started walking towards them.

"Ellen, what the hell is going on here?" Dean asked.

Ellen's answer was a splash of holy water in his face and bringing the pistol back up to his face, ready to shoot.

Blinking away the water, Dean glanced back at his brother. Sam looked just as shocked as he felt. Dean looked back at Ellen, watching her hand tremble as she held the gun, waiting for his response. "We're us."

The response good enough for her, Ellen dropped the gun and looked around. "Where's that girl you came with?" She asked. Her eyes hastily scanned the area, looking for the young brunette. "If you boys met her outside the town, she could be one of them."

"She's not." Sam said. "She's on our side."

"We think." Dean added, shooting Sam a dirty look. He wasn't about to go out on a limb trusting Gail. Especially not knowing where she'd disappeared to or when she'd done it. The girl was strange and dangerous. It'd probably be better to keep my eye on her. Wasn't she supposed to be watching him? Fucking beings with cosmic powers, never around when you need 'em. What if Ellen had shot him? Wouldn't that mean she failed her assignment?

"Then where is she?" Ellen asked. "If she's not one of them, then she could be in real trouble. Why'd you boys let her wander off?"

Sam and Dean looked at each other helplessly. Sam opened his mouth. "She's not exactly…"

Dean tried at the same time. "See, Ellen the thing is…" How exactly did one explain that the angels had given him a bodyguard? The rest of it was so crazy that telling Ellen about someone whose status they couldn't quite define seemed like suicide. She was already on edge as it was.

"What?" Ellen asked. She looked from one boy to the other, seeing the guilty expressions on their faces. "You boys better start talking." She added, stalking past them. "But inside, it ain't safe out here."

Shrugging, Sam and Dean followed her. Sam was starting to get a bad feeling about the whole situation. He checked over his shoulder for Gail, but couldn't see her anywhere. Where the hell did she go? He couldn't say this wasn't like her because he didn't know her. Mind on the job. They had bigger things to worry about.

A/N: I want to work on my more popular stories, I really do. But Horseman consumes my mind as usual, I have so many plans. So much fun in store! Though specifically because this story doesn't get read or reviewed that often, I'd really like to thank Kittykumi, Wgang16, X-Mad-Giraffe-Attack-X (Awesome name by the way!), Audri, and Magic's My Muse for either subscribing to or favoriting. There's nothing better than to seeing a message like that pop up in my inbox. I'd probably keep writing even if no one was reading, but knowing that someone does and likes it gives me warm and fuzzies inside. So thank you! :D I'll be posting the other chapters soon!

In the meantime, those who are reading please review.