Nothing Else Matters
Chapter Five: Truth and Consequences
.o0o.
Morning for the Winchesters could only be described as a civil peace.
No words were uttered between the two as Sam, back from a run and freshly showered, clacked away on his laptop, compiling all the information they had collected so far while Dean sat on the edge of his bed, cleaning the stockpile of guns he'd brought in the night before.
The elder brother kept his relaxed bravado while the younger sat stiffly, a vein protruding along his tense neck muscles.
A firm knock rattled their door snapping Sam to attention. Dean slid a clip into his Colt pistol with ease as he stood and crossed the floor.
The knock sounded again and a familiar voice called "Hey guys, the government paying you to sleep in?"
Dean paused; blinked, then snorted, tucking away his piece as Sam sank back into his chair with a sigh.
The door opened to reveal a white paper bag baring a familiar logo, dangling before Dean's nose.
"I brought libation too" Kim grinned as the bag was snatched away.
He left the door open for her as he sank back onto the bed, already digging for a disc of doughy goodness.
She walked in, shutting the door behind her and sat the coffee carrier down beside Sam, her eyes sweeping over the mess that was …everywhere.
"Tornado cut through here last night?"
"More like a tropical storm" Dean intoned sarcastically, giving her a saccharine smile.
"Well, good morning to you too sunshine" she huffed with hands on her hips.
Dean's eyes narrowed in her direction.
She was dressed similarly to yesterday, jeans, boots and a deep green half-sleeved V-neck. Not bad he supposed, but she was still a pain in the ass. "Sam, your bosom buddy is annoying."
Sam was doing his best to hold back the growing mirth but it couldn't be contained and burst forth with the woman's next words.
"I can take me and my annoying doughnuts elsewhere if you like" Kim scathed through pursed lips.
Dean shot a glare at his brothers shaking shoulders and pulled the bag closer to his chest, taking a big bite of the powdered ring in his hand.
Kim smirked, turning to Sam with arched brows. "Not much I can say about mess anyway. Mine is all over the walls of my room."
Sam took the proffered coffee and offered her the second chair. "Thanks for that" he said motioning towards Dean with his cup.
"No problem" she waved her hand. "I was buying them anyway. So, what are we doing today?"
She hedged to the question, expecting to be shot down by the look on her face. Sam shared a look with Dean over her head and at the brief nod, cleared his throat. "We ah, thought we'd ask you actually."
"Me?" Her surprise was evident.
The rustle of the bag being set aside drew her attention. "You've got good instincts" Dean volunteered in an off handed way as he reached for the other paper cup in the holder, removing the lid altogether.
Kim looked at Sam and he tilted his head. "You have been here longer and we could compile our research, make some real progress."
Her mouth worked for a moment then snapped shut when she realized she was doing it.
"Awesome."
Dean's head popped up, meeting Sam's gaze with a familiar 'what the hell' look he could only shrug at mouthing 'I told you so'.
Ten minutes later they all headed over to her room to peruse the cork board of info she had pinned together.
Sam snorted at her room's décor as soon as he walked in. It was done in similar colors to theirs but the theme was angled more to the feminine persuasion as most of the fabrics were done is a dusk rose and the prints above the bed were of Guinevere and Morgan Le Fey.
Kim agreed with his look of revulsion, commenting that it looked like a ten year old girl had decorated the place.
She waved them towards her wall of amassed documents, which looked an awful lot like a hunter's grid.
Maps were tacked up, a line of blue string marking her brother's route. Beside it was his log information she'd somehow gotten from the company, detailing his stops and weigh in's. An additional map of the town was tapped to the wall; red x's marking the areas she'd already checked.
"I still think there is something down at the quarry" she ground out in frustration as the guys went over her stuff with a sharp eye.
"They could have hidden the rig anywhere in town that has a big enough garage, but there aren't that many and I haven't been allowed entry. The Sheriff's already run me off so many times that he said he'd arrest me if he saw my face again."
Dean, standing off to the side with his arms folded, made a face that clearly showed his opinion of the Sheriff.
The guys were dressed simply she noted, looking nothing like the agents she expected. Sam wore a blue and green plaid button up with jeans, and Dean wore a deep olive colored T-shirt and worn jeans with frayed hems and boots. They looked more like the boys back home than Fed's.
Sam was leaning over the dresser, bracing himself with his hands so he could follow the thread marking her brother's trail making notes with a pen, when Dean's head cocked to the side.
He turned to Kim and snorted. "You're really short."
"Great observational skills there Fall guy, don't hurt yourself."
Kim rolled her eyes, ignoring the concerned glance leveled at them from across the room.
Dean looked as if he were gearing up to retaliate when Sam cleared his throat loudly, eyes widening at the older man.
"What?" Dean snarled childishly.
Kim crossed to the dresser and flipped open her spiral notebook to the last page of notes, muttering "Not all of us are born with gorilla DNA" which Sam overheard.
He lowered his head to hide his smile, but knew his brother saw when he heard Dean's huff of annoyance behind them.
It was a tentative cease-fire as they got to work matching their findings and pinning up the new. They were looking for a pattern to the missing travelers as well as trying to find her brother's location.
Dean's voice was sharp in the quiet of the room when he called out "Hold on" jabbing a finger to a point on her map. "What's this?"
Kim sighed, fingers picking at her jean clad leg as she stared at the carpet, the tip of her tongue darting out to wet her lips. "That's the smaller quarry."
"What?" Sam snapped hard eyes on her as he straightened to his full height beside his brother.
Kim glanced up at the two men. "I wasn't hiding it" she huffed, rolling her eyes in the face of their glares.
Sam looked at Dean pointedly, his jaw jutting out.
She ignored their silent conversation.
"That parcel of land didn't revert back to the county like the rest." She said circling the area with her fingertip. "It's privately owned, but I couldn't get the records. I tried to go out there a few days ago, but it's locked up tight. Chain-link fences topped with razor wire and a pack of Dobermans behind that."
She met their eyes, folding her arms with a shrug.
"I was looking for a way in yesterday when you guys showed up."
Dean let out a snort, turning to his brother with a grin pulling the side of his mouth.
"Damn, you were right Sammy; she's basically me with boobs."
Sam chuckled. "I'm telling ya man, one of you is enough."
Kim narrowed her eyes at them as they smiled smugly. Pieces fell into place and she felt her chest tighten. "Son of a… are you guys even FBI?" She questioned, stepping back until her calves hit the mattress behind her.
Sam stepped in, his hands held up. "Look, give me a chance to explain…"
He proceeded to give her the low-down on what they were up against and who they were.
Dean called it launching damage control but Sam gave her their whole history with his brother's colorful banter sprinkled in here and there. She took it a lot better than most people tended to. At least she wasn't reaching for the phone to call the real FBI.
'Nothing like a good shaking of your foundations to get a girl's heart racing' she thought bitterly.
"So you're saying you think a demon took my brother, and they have been doing this for over sixty years with none the wiser?" She said as she sat slouched on the bed. Sam was in front of her on the other with a concerned expression arching his brows.
Kim looked panicked by the thought and he tried to reassure her, but she wasn't hearing it.
Then Dean spoke from his place by the maps, leaning on the dresser with his arms and ankles crossed.
"I think Kim had the right idea."
Her eyes focused on the man and he gestured to the map. "The quarry is our best bet. Fences and guard dogs practically shout secret compound."
Sam nodded and Kim frowned. "You think the Sheriff is running things?"
Dean shook his head. "He's more of a hired hand, something old and smart has been holed up here for a long time. It's gonna be a real bitch."
.o0o.
Dean stood at the crest of a man made cliff overlooking a small portion of the gated quarry that wasn't hidden by brush and trees, watching for any sign of life in the vicinity.
His eyes darted down to the girl laying on her belly at the very edge and he tipped his head to the side in amusement.
Kim was taking shots of the terrain through a telescopic lens while Sam did recon down at the site.
The rapid shutter of the camera, insects and bird song were the prevalent sounds that reached his ears as the pines behind him shielded his silhouette from any eyes that might be watching from below.
He leaned back on the swaying trunk, leisurely scanning the area. Even with the gravity of the situation he felt kind-of peaceful right then. 'Nothing like getting back to the basics' he thought with a sigh.
"Can't believe a bunch of demonic pimps are working in bumfuck Tennessee" Kim muttered to herself, adjusting the zoom.
Dean fought down a chuckle, rubbing his lip as he crouched down by her feet, his right forearm resting on his knee. "Where are you and your brother from anyway?" He picked a blade of grass, sliding it between his fingers.
Kim snapped another round of shots and smirked back at him over her shoulder "A small town just south of here."
Dean chuckled as she turned back to the lens, "We aren't as backwoods psycho as this place though."
"No demonic pimps then?"
She snorted a laugh "Thankfully."
Dean's smile was back, crinkling his eyes. "Let me guess, it's all country music, deer's and beers?"
Kim sat up, brushing leaves from her shirt, holding up the camera. "Well… not for this girl, my childhood friend catches giant catfish by shoving her fist down their gullet while wearing a bikini and Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses though, if that's your thing?"
She gave him a sly smile when his brow arched.
Shaking her head she looped the camera strap over her neck once more. "I've never hunted deer, but I have helped skin a few. I don't like country music much, give me AC/DC or Bad Company any day."
Dean gave her a speculative once over. "That car of yours, how'd you come by that?"
His eyes swept the area, aware of his brother's movements even as he pulled the blade of grass apart with his fingernails, tossing it to the breeze.
Kim sighed looking out over the compound. "She's a beauty" she smiled. "Kevin found her sitting in this old barn that belonged to one of his buddies from boot camp."
Shaking her head she turned to look at Dean. "Imagine, a nineteen seventy Hemi 'Cuda just sitting there collecting dust while her insides rotted away like a common junker."
"Sacrilege" Dean said immediately and dead serious.
"Exactly, I figured you'd understand. That sixty seven of yours is mint."
His pride was evident as he smiled.
"Any way, he knew I'd want her so he talked to the guys Uncle and we closed the deal. Sixty nine date-coded, mostly original, even had the factory exhaust manifolds intact. She's a bit rusty but that's just elbow grease and we had to replace the wiring."
Dean shook his head. "Nah, she might not look perfect but she'll tear up the asphalt like a beast, what's she got a three speed, 426?"
Kim nodded "Yeah with the 727 Torque Flite. We dropped around fifteen grand into her so now I'm on a dollar menu diet, but it was worth it."
"Yeah" Dean said with a bit of awe in his voice, it was a car to appreciate.
He stood, dusting off his hands as he heard his brother's lumbering steps. Sure enough a moment later Sam came up the slope scowling.
"I found a possible entry point" he huffed, catching his breath. "The only issue is the dogs" he said picking burrs out of his hair with a wrinkled nose.
Kim stood on her tip-toes to pluck a burr from the back of his head and toss it away.
"I've been thinking about that, what if we drugged them?"
Sam's expression went from thankful to scandalize in a split second. "What?"
Kim shot him a flat stare "Not like that Sam. If we drugged some meat with dog tranquilizers and waited for them to pass out, it would give us a pretty good chance of making it."
Dean just stared at the girl until Sam nudged him with an elbow, hard.
"Would it be safe?" Sam asked shooting his brother an exasperated look.
Kim pressed her lips together in a thin line. "It should be as long as we're careful. I can give my friend back home a call and see. She's a vet so if we get the dose for a healthy Pincer it should work just fine."
Sam nodded "Sounds like a plan" he said, looking to his brother.
Finding the man still staring he huffed.
Snapping his fingers in front of Dean's face finally made him blink.
"What are you?"
Kim gave him a look that clearly said she thought he had a few screws loose before turning and heading back towards the Impala.
Sam turned to his brother "Dude?"
Dean shook his head, gesturing for him to go ahead and followed him out.
He was getting too old for this shit.
.o0o.
They had to duck a police cruiser on the way back into town so the locals wouldn't get wind that they were onto them, and then they were back at the motel stocking up on the essentials for demon hunting.
Kim called her friend in the car and got a prescription forwarded to a vet clinic the next town over and took off in her car as soon as they pulled into the lot at the motel to go pick it up.
Sam headed to the market for some fresh beef while Dean stayed behind to pack the duffels.
Thirty minutes later he and Sam were grabbing a quick bite while watching Fast and Furious on TV, arguing over which was the better car.
It was late afternoon when Kim finally made it back, staying on the phone with them the moment she hit the city limits. None of them trusted the Sheriff not to pick her up for even the slightest infraction just to get her out of the way.
She and Sam injected the meat he'd bought and packed it in sealed containers, tucking them away in the cooler that sat in the back driver's side floorboard of the Impala.
They planned their entrance and exit with care, but made back up plans for their back up plans, because they had the worst luck sometimes. Dean wanted to leave Kim behind and only relented when she promised to stay behind the fence and out of harm's way.
It was dangerous, but then all of their plans were like that.
No matter how clever a strategy, anything could happen and often did.
It was a chance they had to take when saving people from the things that hunted them.
...
A/N: Another chapter done! I do hope you guys will leave me a little feedback so I can gauge how the story is going. Tell me if you think it's too fast or boring or if the girl sucks. lol Let me know!
Bye y'all!