Four

"I can't believe she couldn't at least tell us a little bit about this plan of hers," Dean grumbled as he tossed his jacket onto a chair in their own motel room. He flopped onto his bed and looked at Sam. "It can't possibly be better than mine."

"Yeah, because using yourself as bait to draw out and expose these things is a brilliant plan! If you want to end up dead, that is," Sam snapped. He sat down at the table and pulled out John's journal.

"What are you doing?"

"I wanna see if dad ever wrote anything about ghouls," Sam said as he began flipping through the pages covered in their father's tiny scrawl. He could feel Dean's eyes boring into him and looked up. "What?"

"You really think that's what this is?"

"It's what Reggie's thinks and I'm willing to go with that." Dean rolled his eyes and sat up. "Look, Dean, she's a damn good hunter and she's done a lot of research. She's spent a lot of time here in town in the middle of this thing. Who are we to come sweeping in and ignore all that?" Sam stared at Dean, waiting for him to say something.

Dean shrugged and got up, heading for the bathroom. "Maybe I would feel the same if I knew what the heck she was thinking in that pretty little head of hers," Dean muttered before closing the door behind him. Sam heard the faucet turn on and went back to reading their dad's journal.

When Dean emerged a few minutes later, Sam had already stowed the journal away in one of the duffle bags that littered the room and was sitting on the edge of his bed, talking on the motel phone.

"Yeah, we found her. She's a little irritated by our presence, but other than that, Reggie's good," Sam said into the phone.

"Listen, Bobby, the reason I called was because Reggie has a theory and I want to run it by you. See if you've got any more information that may help." Sam nodded at something the hunter said. "Yeah, I know. Dean told her that. She said she was going to call you when she finished the job. She didn't realize you would get so worried."

Dean stood at the doorway and listened to the one-sided conversation. "I'll tell her," Sam chuckled. He nodded at something Bobby said and continued.

"Well, she thinks it might be ghouls," Sam paused. "That's what I said, ghouls." He paused again while Bobby talked. "Really? So you think Reggie's on to something then?" Dean stepped forward and Sam held up his hand. "We're not sure since the damn things can hide in plain sight, but Reggie says she has a plan to figure out who they are." Sam laughed at something Bobby said and looked up at Dean. "Actually, that was Dean's plan." Bobby had guessed one of them would suggest the bait idea. Dean had to chuckle at how well the older man knew them.

There was a soft knock on the door and Sam hesitated, telling Bobby to hold on as Dean pulled a gun off the table and went to check it out. Dean peered through the small peephole and relaxed.

"Speak of the devil," he said as he slid the padlock back on the door and opened it for Reggie.

Reggie hesitated in the doorway, glancing at Sam before returning her gaze to Dean. "Can I talk to you for a sec?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure," Dean said, nodding. He closed the door behind him and followed her as Reggie walked to where their cars were parked. She stopped at the Plymouth and turned to Dean, an uncertain look on her face. The way she kept avoiding meeting his gaze made Dean feel uneasy.

"What's up?" he asked, wanting to break the silence.

"I want you and Sam to leave," Reggie blurted out. She stared at the ground, her hands jammed into the pockets of her jacket.

"What? Why?" Dean tried to keep the hurt from his voice. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he was happy to see Reggie again.

"Because I can handle this job on my own, that's why. I don't need the two of you hanging around, messing things up." She took a deep breath and finally met Dean's questioning stare. Her face blanched and she looked away. "Don't look at me like that," she mumbled.

"Like what? Shocked? Confused?" Dean growled. "I'm not really sure how else to look, Reggie." He balled his hands into fists at his sides, the anger burning hot inside him. "Sam and I came down here because we were worried about you. We're offering to stay and help. And instead you pull me out here to tell us to get lost?"

"I…I can't explain right…" Reggie stuttered. Dean's stomach turned to stone as he thought about Reggie's words.

"Oh, wait. I get it." He ran a clammy hand over his face, fighting against the pain searing in his chest. Reggie heard the change in his voice and looked up. Instantly, her face paled and her jaw dropped open.

"No, Dean. It's not that," Reggie cried, taking a step forward, holding her hand out in front of her. Dean stepped away from her. "God, why do you always go to there?" she snapped at him, dropping her hand. Dean gaped at her, confused. "I don't want you to go, you idiot. I need you to go."

"You said…"

"I know what I said. That doesn't mean I actually meant it."

She sighed heavily and took another step towards him. This time Dean stayed put, still too busy trying to figure out what Reggie was saying to react anyway.

"I only said what I said to get you mad. To get you so mad that you would leave, Dean."

"Okay, so maybe I'm missing something, but, why? Why would you…?" Relief flooded through him.

"To protect you. You and Sam. I haven't exactly given you all the details and I don't want to."

"Why not?" Dean asked, frustrated.

"Because of what you said earlier, about being bait. It's crazy how you're willing to risk yourself so impulsively. Especially with what that angel says you were brought back to do."

Reggie ran a hand through her hair and Dean realized it was no longer pulled back into a ponytail. It looked longer and, as he looked at Reggie again, he realized there were other changes to her appearance. Her emerald green eyes were tinged with red and her once peach complexion was paler; she looked exhausted. She rubbed her cheek absently, bringing attention to a faded bruise just under her left eye.

Dean's hand lifted up and he was brushing his finger over the spot before he even realized what he was doing. "Where'd you get this?" he asked.

Reggie shrugged and stepped out of his touch. "I don't remember. You get lots of bruises on the job. Don't change the subject, Dean. Are you and Sam going to leave?"

Dean took a deep breath and shook his head. "No, we're not."

"Why not?" Reggie snapped.

"Because you haven't given me a good enough reason to. And don't say because God has a plan for me. I've heard that crap before and I'm not buying it anymore. If I can stop the Apocalypse, then I will. Doing the same thing I've done my entire life - hunting and killing supernatural things."

Dean shoved his hands into his jean pockets and shivered. He realized they had been standing outside for a long time and his jacket was still hanging inside the room on the chair where he'd left it.

"Look, Reggie, I don't know what your reason for sending us packing is and if you don't want our help, then that's fine. But Sam and I are staying put until these things, ghouls or whatever, are stopped."

Dean expected Reggie to argue with him some more, but instead she shook her head and smiled.

"I figured you were going to say that."

"Then why'd…"

"Because I had to try, didn't I," she said, shrugging.

"Yeah, I guess you did," Dean said, returning her smile. He shivered again and Reggie laughed.

"Why don't you get back inside before you freeze to death," she teased. Dean nodded at her and they both walked back to their rooms. At the door to her room, they stopped, and Reggie gazed up at him for a moment.

"What?" he asked, curious by the look on her face.

Reggie shook her head. "It's nothing." Dean raised his eyebrow at her and she shrugged. "Well, I just figured it would've been a lot longer before I'd see you again, that's all." She pulled out her room key and slipped inside before Dean could reply. Just then, the door to his room opened and Sam stood in the doorway, looking awkward.

"Oh, hey," he said as he stepped out of the way so Dean could enter. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah. Reggie just wanted to talk for a minute."

"You guys were gone for more than a minute," Sam said. He stared at Dean, as if looking for something, a smile tugging at his lips. His hazel eyes glinted deviously.

Dean punched him in his shoulder. "No, Sam, we were just talking. In fact, Reggie asked us to leave."

"What? Why?" Sam asked, his voice rising at this unexpected statement.

He followed Dean to his bed and waited for his brother to explain. Dean sat down on the end of his bed and kicked off his boots.

"She wouldn't really give me a complete answer, but she said it was to protect us."

"And I'm guessing you told her there was no way in hell we were leaving town?" Sam sat down on his own bed and stared at Dean.

"Basically." Dean yawned loudly and scooted back on the bed. He grabbed the remote for the television as he began bunching the limp motel pillows behind his head, and flipped on the TV. Sam stared at him for a few more moments, then shrugged when his brother failed to continue.

"O-kay. Well, Bobby thinks Reggie might be right about it being ghouls. He offered to do a little more digging, see if he can find anything more about how to identify and kill these things. Until then, he thinks we should lay low. "Try not to get our asses eaten in the meantime" were his exact words."

Dean snorted and shook his head. "Sounds like Bobby." He flipped through a few channels before shutting the TV off. "I'm kind of beat. I think I'm going to hit the hay, try and get some sleep." He turned off the lamp on his side of the nightstand and turned onto his side, facing away from Sam. He heard his brother sigh and then movement as Sam pulled off his shoes and got into his bed. A few minutes later, the room went completely dark as Sam turned off the last light.

Dean stared into the darkness, not really tired enough for sleep yet. He had too much running through his head; most of it about the conversation with Reggie. What was she hiding from them? Finally, after what seemed like hours and long after Sam's steady breathing signaled he was out like a light, did Dean succumb to fitful sleep himself.

The clock on the nightstand read seven forty-five in the morning when Sam opened his eyes and sat up, running his hands through his tousled hair. He yawned and scrubbed his face, trying to wake up completely. The shower was running in the bathroom and Sam groaned, knowing Dean was going to use up all the hot water on him. He could hear his brother singing the Guns-N-Roses song from the night before, Dean's inability to carry a tune apparent even over the running exhaust fan. Sam groaned again and got up, hoping that Reggie would let him use her shower.

He pulled on his boots, not bothering to tie them, gathered some clothes, and slipped out into the bright morning. Sam squinted as sunshine reflected off the fresh layer of snow that had fallen during the night. He lifted his hand to shield his eyes and started walking.

Sam had only taken two of the six steps it would have required for him to get to Reggie's room when he realized a car was missing from the lot; Reggie's dark blue Plymouth was gone. "Dammit," he mumbled and turned around, heading back into his room. By the time Dean was finished in the bathroom, Sam was already dressed and waiting for his brother.

"Hey, Sammy. You get a good night's sleep?" He draped his towel over the door handle and grabbed his toothbrush, humming to himself.

"Reggie's car is gone, Dean," Sam said.

Dean froze mid stride and slowly rotated around to look at Sam.

"By gone you mean…?"

"Gone. As in no longer where it was parked last night. No longer in the parking lot at all."

Sam got up from the chair he'd been sitting in and grabbed one of the duffle bags off the floor, pulling out a sawed-off and two small silver knives. He tucked the gun into an inside pocket of his jacket and slipped the knives into a strap at his ankle. When he looked up, Dean had pulled on his leather coat and was checking his own gun, an ivory handled Colt .45.

"I don't care how hot she is, I'm going to kick her sneaky, underhanded ass," Dean growled and threw open the door. Reggie stood in the doorway, her hand raised in mid knock. "Where the hell did you go?" Dean snapped at her.

Reggie held up three cups stuck inside a small gray holder situated around a small white bag and waved it in front of Dean's face. "I went to get breakfast," she stated, brushing past him into the room. She placed the items on the table and turned to glare at Dean, her hands on her hips. "Now, what's this I heard about kicking someone's ass?" She looked from Dean to Sam, waiting for an answer.

"Apparently there was a misunderstanding," Sam said. Dean slammed the door closed and both of them jumped.

"Next time you pull out of that lot, you better leave a note," he snarled. Reggie blinked at him in surprise.

"Really? Last time I checked I didn't need to report to you, Dean."

"You do now." Reggie balled her hands into fists and took an angry step forward.

Sam rushed over and stopped in front of Reggie, both his hands raised, palms out, trying to be peacemaker. "Whoa, whoa. Let's all calm down." He placed a hand on Dean's chest and tried to smile at them both. "Dean was just worried you had gone off on your own, Reggie, that's all." Sam glanced at Dean and saw that his brother was glaring at a spot on the wall over the television, his jaw clenched tightly. "Dean?"

Dean took a deep breath and turned his gaze back to Sam. "I just want to hear her say that she won't go running off on her own. I want her to say that she'll come talk to us before she does anything on this hunt."

He stared past Sam at Reggie. Reggie glared defiantly back at him. Sam turned to look at Reggie too, waiting for the woman to speak.

"I won't promise that," she snapped. Reggie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "But I guess I can agree to let you know where I'm going. Just in case."

"That's fair enough," Sam said. He looked at Dean and waited for him to answer.

"Okay, fine," Dean muttered. He stomped over and sat down on the end of his bed. Sam smiled at Reggie and she returned it weakly. She moved around Sam, pulled out a cup, and offered it to him.

"I got you one of those frappaccino things. Dean mentioned you liked those kind of coffee drinks." She reached into the white bag and pulled out a sesame bagel and handed that, too, to Sam. He took both the bagel and coffee and sat down at the table. Reggie yanked another cup from the holder and walked over to Dean, still holding the bag. "Here, this is yours," she said, shoving them at Dean. "Black coffee and two jelly donuts."

Dean sighed and took the items from her. "Thanks," he added reluctantly. He paused in the middle of taking a sip of his coffee, eyeing Reggie curiously. "How'd you know I liked the jelly kind?"

"You just seem like a jelly donut kind of guy."

Sam snorted and coughed as he choked on the bite of bagel he had just taken. Dean glared at him.

"Was that Bobby you were talking to last night, Sam?" Reggie asked, clearly changing the subject.

"Yeah. I called him hoping that he might have a little more information. He's going to get back to us as soon as he finds anything." Sam sipped his coffee and grinned. "This is pretty good."

"I'm glad you like it. I wasn't really sure what I was ordering. I'm not very familiar with all those frou-frou drinks."

This time it was Dean who choked. Reggie remained standing, sipping her coffee as she waited for Sam and Dean to finish eating.

"So what's the plan for today?" Dean asked before stuffing the last bite of donut into his mouth.

"There's an abandoned house on the outskirts of town that I haven't gotten a chance to check out. We could head over there," Reggie suggested.

Sam nodded and brushed his hands on his pant legs.

"From what I've read, ghouls like to hole up in abandoned places. I guess it's easier to torture and eat people when no one can hear them screaming." She shuddered and put her coffee cup down.

"That's a pleasant thought," Dean mumbled. He tossed his trash into the small beige trashcan by the bed and got up.

Clapping his hands together, he grinned. "Let's go."