Seven

Reggie stood at the bar, watching Dean flirt with the busty blonde beside him. Doug, the guy she had met on her way over to the pool tables, knowing that was where she would find Dean and Sam, stood beside her. He was trying to talk to her, but her attention was too focused on Dean to notice. After a few minutes, he gave up and disappeared into the crowd of people around her.

"You are such an idiot," Reggie mumbled to herself as she glared at Dean.

The bartender came over and asked if she wanted another drink but Reggie declined. There was only so much Sprite a person could drink in one night. She'd had two beers but that had been hours ago. Right now Reggie knew she needed to be sharp, her focus resolute, and booze would inhibit that. The blonde smiled at Dean and disappeared. Reggie moved from her spot and forced her way through the crowd over to Dean.

"Where'd your friend go?" she asked, sliding onto the empty stool. Dean rolled his glazed eyes over her and smiled.

"She had to go to the bathroom. Where'd yours go?" His speech was slightly slurred and his cheeks were a deep shade of pink.

"Hell if I know. I wasn't all that interested." Reggie leaned into Dean and stared into his eyes.

"What are you interested in, then?" Dean asked, knocking back another glass of whiskey. Reggie could smell the alcohol oozing from every pore of his skin. "'Cause I'd really like to know."

Reggie took a deep breath, wincing as she tasted the booze in the air around him, and decided she was going to have to answer Dean's question. At least he was less likely to remember the answer tomorrow.

"You, Dean. I can't get you out of my head," she whispered, giving her soft voice a slight purr.

Dean scoffed and waved for the bartender. "Sure you do," he grunted disbelievingly.

Reggie took his hand and lowered it, twining her fingers through his. Dean stared at their hands as if they belonged to someone else. "I do," she breathed. She took another deep breath and leaned closer, the heat radiating off Dean's cheek warming Reggie's goose bump-covered flesh. "Why don't we get out of here?" Reggie whispered into his ear.

Dean pulled back, almost toppling off his stool, and Reggie grabbed his arms to steady him. Dean scoffed at her again and yanked her hand off his elbow. Reggie leaned in again and took another deep breath.

"I'm serious, Dean," Reggie whispered. "Let's get the hell out of here."

She gently nipped the bottom of his ear with her teeth and felt him shiver. A smile crept across her lips despite herself and Reggie sat back, looking at him. Dean smirked at her and hopped down off his stool.

"Then let's go," he slurred, tilting on his feet. Just then, the blonde appeared at Dean's side.

"Where are you going, Deanie?" she purred, placing her hand on Dean's arm above where Reggie held him. Dean stared blankly at her.

"He's actually coming with me," Reggie stated, pulling Dean's jacket from the back of his bar stool and draping it over her arm. She began to lead him towards the door before the blonde stepped in front of her, blocking their path.

"He was talking to me," the woman stated, her voice pure ice. Reggie stared at her for a moment before recovering.

"Yeah, but, you see, he came here with me and now he's leaving with me. I'm sure you can find another warm body to take home before the bar closes," Reggie spat. She brushed past the woman, bumping her with her shoulder hard enough to make the woman take a couple steps backwards.

Reggie led Dean outside and over to her car, hoping the cold night air would sober him up enough to get him back to the motel. It had begun to flurry again and she slipped once on the light dusting over the asphalt as she helped Dean get in the Plymouth. She pulled out of the lot and sped down the highway, turning on her high beams so she could see better.

Dean sat in the passenger seat, facing the window, and until he actually spoke, Reggie'd thought he had finally passed out.

"I'm sorry I got your Uncle Frank killed," Dean mumbled.

Reggie's heart sank and she clenched the steering wheel.

"That seems to be the only thing I'm good at, though - getting loved ones killed. My dad had to sell his soul to save me because I wasn't strong enough to stop old Yellow-eyes when I had the chance. Sam died because I couldn't protect him like my dad ordered me to.

"And even when freakin' angels sent me back in time, I wasn't good enough to save my grandparents or my own mother." Dean turned to look at her, his face a mask of agony. "I'll probably get you killed, too," he groaned. "And I don't know if I can live with that."

Reggie pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the car.

"I am not going to die, Dean," she snapped. "And none of those people: your mother, your father, Frank, none of them died because of something you did or didn't do." Dean began shaking his head at her. "They died because something horrible happened to them, something you had no control over."

She grasped his face in her hands, forcing him to look her in the eyes.

"I have never blamed you for what happened that night in Lisbon and you need to stop carrying this burden on your shoulders because it's not your weight to bare!"

They stared at each other, the silence stretching for what seemed like hours. Reggie slid across the seat, pulling herself closer to Dean, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him.

The sound of running water woke Dean and he rolled onto his back, the bed springs squeaking under his weight. He opened his eyes, but the searing pain that greeted him made him scrunch them tightly shut again. Dean groaned and winced as every sound shot pain through his brain. He waited for the nausea to fade, then tried opening his eyes again.

On the bedside table beside him he spotted a glass of water which instantly made him thirsty. Dean gently pushed himself up, leaning against the headboard for support and grabbed the glass, gulping it down. Dean noticed two little white pills sitting beside where the glass of water had been resting and he dry swallowed them, cringing at the familiar bitter taste of the aspirin.

Dean hadn't noticed that the water had shut off, but now he realized he could hear movement from inside the bathroom. He opened his mouth to call to Sam when the door opened and Reggie emerged in a wave of steam, buttoning her jeans.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," she said, keeping her voice low. She unraveled the towel around her head and let her wet hair fall around her shoulders. Dean gaped at her as he watched her walk across the room to a black bag sitting on the floor. Reggie bent down and began rummaging through it, finally pulling out a hairbrush and running it through her hair.

"I ran out and got coffee a little while ago. It might still be warm if you want it."

She nodded towards the small dining table and Dean followed her gaze, staring at the small brown cup sitting there. Slowly, he returned his gaze to Reggie, who was bent over another bag, oblivious to Dean's current stunned state.

"What happened last night?" Dean choked out, wincing as the effort made his head throb.

"You mean you don't remember?" Reggie asked incredulously. Dean shook his head and grimaced as the bitter aspirin taste made a repeat appearance. "I mean, it had to have been the best night of my life! And from the sounds you were making, I figured it was for you, too."

Dean's jaw dropped open and he stared at Reggie. She began to laugh hysterically, grasping her side as her whole body shook.

"I'm…I'm…just kidding, Dean," she gasped.

Dean glared at her, threw the covers off, and stood up. The room swayed from side to side and he sat back down heavily. Seeing this brought Reggie up short and she walked over to him, sitting down beside Dean on the bed.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have teased you, but I couldn't help it. You really thought we'd…?"

"I didn't know what to think," Dean snapped, fixing an angry stare at a spot on one of the curtains.

"You're still wearing your clothes, for god's sake," Reggie cried, pointing at Dean's chest.

He looked down and realized he was, in fact, still wearing the same pair of jeans and black t-shirt he had put on yesterday. Dean tried to think back on the night before, trying to remember past the blinding headache pounding in his temples.

"Here, drink this," Reggie said, handing him a glass with amber liquid in it.

Dean sniffed it and recognized the smell of cheap whiskey.

"Hair of the dog and all that crap," Reggie mumbled, waving her hand at the glass.

Dean gulped it down, wincing as the liquor burned his throat and handed the glass back to her.

"I see you took the aspirin I left for you. I have more when you need it."

"Where's Sam?" Dean asked, his voice not as hoarse as before.

"In your room, I guess," Reggie replied, shrugging. "By the time we got back, I figured he was already asleep and I didn't want to wake him. So I drug your stupid, drunken ass in here and dropped you into bed."

Dean rubbed his hands over his face and stifled a yawn. He looked around the room, still trying to remember.

"What do you remember of last night?" Reggie asked.

Dean shrugged and winced when the movement caused a sensation similar to pins stabbing into his brain. "Not much. I remember going to the bar and I remember beating a line of suckers at pool." As Dean talked, things began to come back to him, blurry images and thoughts. "I remember you hustling me at pool."

Reggie laughed and covered her mouth when Dean winced again. "Sorry," she said in a hushed tone. "Do you remember leaving the bar?"

She was looking at him strangely, as if expecting him to remember something in particular.

"I vaguely remember getting into your car and pieces of the drive back here. Other than that, nothing." Dean rubbed his temples, trying to force something stuck in the back of his aching head to come forward.

"Dean?" Reggie asked tentatively and she reached up and gently took his hand away from his face. Dean stared at their fingers intertwined between them on the bed and finally it came to him.

"What happened to that blonde I was talking to?" he asked. Reggie's hand gripped his tightly and Dean looked up at her. He caught the brief flash of pain on her face before it was replaced with fury. She dropped his hand and stood up.

"I'm glad you remember her," she snapped.

"Are you…jealous?" he asked, getting slowly to his feet. The room swayed again, but this time steadied so that Dean was able to remain standing.

"No, you idiot," Reggie scoffed, her voice getting higher. "You don't even realize how much danger you were in last night. Your raging libido is going to get you killed one day, Dean, you know that?" Reggie began pacing back and forth in front of him, clenching and unclenching her hands.

"What are you talking about?"

Dean reached out and grabbed her arm, holding her in place in front of him. Her pacing was making him feel sick.

"That woman you were talking to last night was a ghoul, Dean."

Dean stared at Reggie, stunned. "What…how could…how do you know that?" he stammered.

"I told you there were some things I knew that I didn't tell you." Reggie's face softened as she talked. "I've been here for a while, Dean. I've had time to do a lot, and I mean a lot, of research. After a week, when I discovered the part about ghouls being able to cloak themselves to look normal, to look human, I realized I wasn't going to be able to find out who they were without becoming a meal myself.

"So I decided to go about finding them another way." Reggie sat down on the end of her bed and looked up at Dean. "They move from town to town so I decided the best place to start would be with any new residents. Anyone who had come to town in the time before the abductions started. In a town like Bridgewater, new people aren't that common. So far I've found three people who fit into that."

"Three? That's it?"

Dean sank into one of the dining chairs and picked up the coffee cup Reggie had pointed out to him earlier.

She shook her head no. "I don't think that's it. I think these things have been moving into the area in groups for awhile. That's where I'm running into problems. I've only been able to go back over the last three years of records for any new residents. Plus, not all of the three fit what you would expect. Your girl last night wasn't even on my list."

"Then how did you know?"

Dean grimaced as he took a sip of the coffee; it was ice cold. He put the cup down and pushed it away.

"I don't know. Intuition, I guess." Reggie shrugged. "I know that sounds like a load of crap, but it's true. I could just tell there was something off about her. When I saw her leave to go to the bathroom, I decided it was my chance to get you out of there safely. But she came back sooner than I expected her to. Something happened then that made me positive I was right."

Reggie shuddered again and bit her bottom lip nervously.

"What?" Dean asked, watching Reggie intently.

"She wasn't keen to let you walk out of that bar with me so she tried to intimidate me into leaving without you. I think I pissed her off and, in that brief second when she lost control of her emotions, her veil slipped a little and I saw the creature beneath."

Reggie stared at Dean, waiting for him to say something. She watched as concern flooded his face.

"She's going to be coming after you now."

"I don't think she realized I saw the slip."

"You can't know that for sure. If the bitch even has an inkling that you've figured it out, she'll hunt you down for sure."

"What does it matter, Dean? I'm not going anywhere."

"Your life is in danger, Reggie! You have to leave," Dean cried, ignoring his pounding headache and the swaying room, as he leapt to his feet.

"You and Sam wouldn't leave when I tried to get you to, when I tried to keep you safe. How can you expect me to leave now when the situation's been reversed?"

"Because I'm not about to let you stay here and die," Dean snapped.

He started grabbing things off the floor and shoving them into bags. He felt Reggie's hand on his shoulder and shrugged it off, spinning to glare at her.

"Don't argue with me Reggie. Don't you even start!"

"I'm not going anywhere, Dean," Reggie said calmly, her emerald eyes set determinedly. "Pack my things and throw them in the trunk of my car if that's what you want, but I won't go. I'm not leaving town in the middle of a job. I'm not leaving until these bastards are stopped."

Dean glared at her, holding one of her shirts in one hand and her black bag in the other. She took the bag from him and tossed it back onto the floor next to the dresser.

"Why can't you just listen to me this once?" he asked, tossing the shirt onto the bed behind her.

"Why can't you just accept the fact that I'm in this life and you won't always be around to send me packing every time my life is in danger?"

Dean snorted and relaxed his shoulders, defeated. "Okay, you got me there." There was a knock on the door and Reggie hurried to it, peering through the peephole.

"It's Sam," she said, and pulled back the padlock. She opened the door and Sam stepped hesitantly into the room. "Morning."

Sam looked from Reggie to Dean, before speaking. "Did I interrupt something?" He looked uncomfortable. "I could hear Dean yelling through the wall, but I couldn't make out what about."

"Dean almost became some ghoul's version of a Quarter Pounder last night," Reggie replied.

"What?" Sam asked, staring at his brother.

"Relax, Sammy, I'm fine. Apparently, I need to make better choices in the chicks I pick up when I'm drunk, but other than that I'm good."

"What the hell happened after I left last night?" Sam asked.

He stood silently listening to Reggie recount their encounter with the ghoul at the bar and the argument that she and Dean had been having right before Sam knocked.

"You should leave town, Reggie," Sam stated once she was finished. Reggie rolled her eyes at him and opened her mouth to object when Sam held his hand up. "Wait, I'm saying that I agree with Dean and you should leave town. But I also know that you won't because if the tables were turned, I wouldn't leave either."

Reggie nodded and smiled at Sam. "Thanks."

"Now that we've got that decided, how's about we find these sons of bitches and exterminate them," Dean stated, looking at Sam and Reggie.