October 31, 2005

Sam Winchester does not do Halloween. Too many bad memories of his strange childhood. He cannot believe his girlfriend is making him do this.

"Sam! Get a move on, would you? We were supposed to be there like fifteen minutes ago." Jessica Moore says, adjusting the hat of her sexy nurse costume. "Sam! You coming or what?"

"Do I have to?" Sam asks his girlfriend, poking his head around the corner of their bedroom door, shaking his shaggy brown hair out of his hazel eyes.

"Yes! It'll be fun," Jess replies. Sam comes into the room, wearing jeans and a t-shirt and most definitely not a costume. "And where's your costume?"

"You know how I feel about Halloween," Sam laughs.

Jess raises her glass to Sam, who is still not in costume, and their friend at a table in the bar.

"So here's to Sam and his awesome LSAT victory." She says proudly.

"All right, all right, it's not that big a deal," Sam says as he, Jess, and their friend Luis clink glasses.

"Yeah, he acts all humble, but he scored a 174," Jess states. Luis and Sam drink their shots.

"Is that good?" Luis asks, not really sure about any of this.

"Scary good," Jess replied, smiling at her boyfriend before downing her shot.

"So there you go. You are a first-round draft pick. You can go to any law school you want!" Luis says, sitting down next to Sam.

"Actually, I got an interview here. Monday. If it goes okay I think I got a shot at a full ride next year." Sam tells the small group.

"Hey. It's gonna go great," Jess says reassuringly.

"It better," Sam replies.

"How does it feel to be the golden boy of your family?" Luis asks, just to be saying something.

"Ah, they don't know," Sam says.

"Oh, no, I would be gloating! Why not?" Luis asks.

"Because we're not exactly the Bradys."

"And I'm not exactly the Huxtables. More shots?"

"No," Sam and Jess say in chorus. Luis goes up to the bar anyway, leaving Sam and Jess alone at their table.

"No, seriously. I'm proud of you. And you're gonna knock 'em dead on Monday and you're gonna get that full ride. I know it." Jess beams.

"What would I do without you?" Sam asks, smiling lovingly at Jess.

"Crash and burn," Jess smiles, pulling Sam in for a congratulatory kiss.

Sam hears the sound of a window opening in the apartment. He gets out of bed, careful not to wake the sleeping Jess, and walks out of the bedroom. He looks around the apartment and sees a window open that he was sure he had closed before he and Jess went to bed. Sam hears what sounds like two sets of footsteps and he moves into the shadows to wait for the intruders. Two people, a man and a woman from the looks of their silhouettes, enter the room.

Sam lunges at the man, grabbing his shoulder. The man easily knocks Sam's hand off of his shoulder and aims a blow at Sam, who ducks just in time. The man grabs Sam by the arm and swings him around, shoving him back. Sam kicks at the attacker, but is blocked and pushed into another room. The woman follows the show. The man elbows Sam in the face, but Sam kicks at his head. The man ducks and takes a swing at Sam, who blocks the blow. The woman sticks her foot out as Sam is backing up, tripping him. Sam lands flat on his back. The man pins him to the floor, one hand on Sam's neck and the other on his wrist. The woman leans over Sam's face upside-down, her hands on his shoulders.

"Whoa, easy, tiger," the woman says, smiling, her long dark hair tickling Sam's face.

"Maria? Dean?" Sam asks, thoroughly confused and winded. Dean and Maria laugh. "You scared the crap out of me!"

"That's 'cause you're out of practice," Dean retorts, still smiling. The smile is short-lived as Sam grabs Dean's hand and yanks it, slamming his heel into Dean's back as he sits up quickly, knocking Maria backwards and forcing Dean onto the floor. "Or not. Get off of me."

Sam rolls onto his feet, offering a hand first to Maria and then to Dean.

"What the hell are you two doing here?"

"Well, we were looking for beers," Dean replied, as Maria hugged Sam, patting his back twice before letting go. Dean put his hands on Sam's shoulders after Maria pulled away, shook him once, and let go.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Sam asks again.

"Okay. All right. We gotta talk," Maria said seriously, pushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Uh, the phone?" Sam said with a bit of annoyance.

"If we'd'a called, would you have picked up?" Maria asked, her dark brown eyes narrowing a bit at her baby brother.

"Sam?" Jess asks as she turns on the lights. She is wearing nothing but very short shorts and a cropped Smurfs shirt as her pajamas. Sam, Dean, and Maria turn their heads in unison.

"Jess. Hey. Dean, Maria, this is my girlfriend, Jessica," Sam introduces her. Dean looks at her appreciatively, and Maria smiles at her kindly, embarrassed for her in advance.

"Wait, your brother Dean? And your sister Maria?" Jess asks, smiling. Sam nods as Dean grins at Jess and moves closer to her.

"Oh, I love the Smurfs. You know, I gotta tell you. You are completely out of my brother's league." Dean says, laying on the patented Winchester Charm, green eyes shining with mischief. Maria rolls her eyes at her older brother and mouths a small "sorry" to Jess.

"Just let me put something on," Jess says, turning to go, but Dean's voice stops her.

"No, no, no, I wouldn't dream of it. Seriously," Dean says, walking back over to Sam and Maria without taking his eyes off of Jess. Sam watches his brother with a stony expression. "Anyway, we gotta borrow your boyfriend here, talk about some private family business."

"But, uh, nice meeting you," Maria finished for Dean, smiling apologetically at Jess.

"No," Sam says, walking over to stand next to Jess, putting his arm around her. "No, whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of her."

"Okay," Maria says, looking at Sam and Jess straight on. "Um. Dad hasn't been home in a few days."

"So he's working overtime on a Miller Time shift. He'll stumble back in sooner or later," Sam replied, unfazed by his sister's words.

"Dad's on a hunting trip. And he hasn't been home in a few days," Dean clarified. Sam's expression doesn't change as he hears this new development. Jess, confused, glances up at her boyfriend.

"Jess, excuse us. We have to go outside."