After driving for a few hours we finally pull into a gas station.
"Alright, I figure we'd hit Tucumcari by lunch, then head south, hit Bisbee by midnight." He tells us and Sam doesn't respond. "Sam wears women's underwear." He says to Sam and I roll my eyes.
"I've been listenin', I'm just busy." Sam replies, not looking up from his blackberry.
"Busy doin' what?" Dean asks him curiously.
"Reading e-mails." Sam tells him as Dean gets out of the car and starts to fill the tank with gas.(
"E-mails from who?" I ask him, between bites of my candy bar.
"From my friends at Stanford." He responds, still not looking up.
"You're kidding. You still keep in touch with your college buddies?" Dean asks him, surprised.
"Why not?" Sam asks him, confused.
"Well, what exactly do you tell 'em? You know, about where you've been, what you've been doin'?" Dean asks as he walks back over to the passenger side and leans against the car, and I take another bite of my candy.
"I tell 'em I'm on a road trip with my big brother and his girlfriend. I tell 'em I needed some time off after Jess." Sam explains to us.
"Oh, so you lie to 'em." I say as I take another bite of my candy bar and sit forward.
"No. I just don't tell 'em….everything." Sam says unconvincingly.
"Yeah, that's called lying. I mean, hey, man, I get it, tellin' the truth is far worse." Dean tells him.
"So, what am I supposed to do, just cut everybody out of my life?" he asks and Dean shrugs. "You're serious?" Sam asks when he sees Dean's face and then at mine.
"Look, it sucks, but in a job like this, you can't get close to people, period." Dean tells him and I nod.
"You two are kind of anti-social, you know that?" Sam says and I chuckle.
"Yeah, whatever." Dean mumbles and Sam keeps reading his emails. Dean leans over to my window and takes a bite of my candy bar.
"God…." Sam exclaims and we both turn to look at him.
"What?" I ask him, concerned.
"In this e-mail from this girl, Rebecca Warren, one of those friends of mine." Sam informs us.
"Is she hot?" Dean asks him and Sam ignores him, while I glare at him.
"I went to school with her, and her brother, Zack. She says Zack's been charged with murder. He's been arrested for killing his girlfriend. Rebecca says he didn't do it, but it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case." Sam explains and I frown.
"Dude, what kind of people are you hangin' out with?" Dean asks him.
"No, man, I know Zack. He's no killer." Sam argues.
"Well, maybe you know Zack as well as he knows you." I offer in between bites of my candy.
"They're in St. Louis. We're goin'." He tells us and Dean chuckles.
"Look, sorry 'bout your buddy, okay? But this does not sound like our kind of problem." Dean disagrees.
"It is our problem. They're my friends." Sam insists.
"St. Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Sam." He tells him and they look at each other for a minute before Dean turns to me. I give him a look and we pull out of the gas station, heading to St. Louis. We arrive at Rebecca's house, knock on the door and a pretty blonde answers the door.
"Oh my God, Sam!" The blonde exclaims happily.
"Well, if it isn't little Becky." Sam replies.
"You know what you can do with that little Becky crap." She says smiling and they hug.
"I got your e-mail." He informs her.
"I didn't think that you would come here." Dean steps forward and holds out his hand.
"Dean. Older brother." He introduces himself and she shakes his hand. I step forward and wave.
"Sophie. I'm Dean's girlfriend." I tell her smiling, and she smiles back.
"Hi." She tells us.
"Hi." Dean says to her and I roll my eyes at him.
"We're here to help. Whatever we can do." Sam informs her.
"Come in." She invites us into the house and we walk in, Dean closing the door behind him. We follow Becky into the house and I look around.
"Nice place." I compliment.
"It's my parents'. I was just crashing here for the long weekend when everything happened. I decided to take the semester off. I'm gonna stay until Zack's free." She explains.
"Where are your folks?" Sam asks her, curious as to why they aren't here.
"They live in Paris for half the year, so they're on their way home now for the trial." She tells us as we walk into the kitchen. "Do you guys want a beer or something?" She asks and Dean smiles.
"Hey-" Dean starts to say something.
"No, thanks. So, tell us what happened." Sam interrupts.
"Well, um, Zack came home, and he found Emily tied to a chair. And she was beaten up and bloody, and she wasn't breathing." She tells us, starting to cry. "So, he called 911, and the police—they showed up, and they arrested him. But, the thing is, the only way that Zack could've killed Emily is if he was in two places at the same time. The police—they have a video. It's from the security tape from across the street. And it shows Zack coming home at 10:30. Now, Emily was killed just after that, but I swear, he was here with me, having a few beers until at least after midnight." She tells us.
"You know, maybe we could see the crime scene. Zack's house." Sam says and I glance at him confused.
"We could." Dean agrees.
"Why? I mean, what could you do?" Becky asks them, probably just as confused as me.
"Well, me, not much. But Dean's a cop." Sam informs her and I force a smile while Dean laughs.
"Detective, actually." He corrects and I roll my eyes.
"Really?" She asks and Dean nods. "Where?" She questions him.
"Bisbee, Arizona. But I'm off-duty now." He elaborates and I just know this is going to come back to bite us in the ass.
"You guys, it's so nice to offer, but I just—I don't know." She replies unsure.
"Bec, look, I know Zack didn't do this. Now, we have to find a way to prove that he's innocent." Sam says to her and it seems to convince her.
"Okay. I'm gonna go get the keys." She says, walking down the hall. I sigh and hit Sam on the arm, hard. When Dean smirks at him I hit him on the chest.
"Oh, yeah, man, you're a real straight shooter with your friends. And you, really detective? You had to dig that hole deeper for yourself?" I scold them.
"Look, Zack and Becky need our help." Sam pleads.
"I just don't think this is our kind of problem." Dean responds.
"Two places at once? We've looked into less." Sam argues and I sigh, while Dean just says nothing, defeated. Becky comes back and we drive to Zack's house. We pull up and walk to the door.
"Bec, you wanna wait outside?" Sam asks her once we open the door.
"No. I wanna help." She replies as she ducks under the police tape and enters the house.
"Tell us what else the police said." I tell her, as I take in the blood stained house.
"Well, there's no sign of a break-in. They say that Emily let her attacker in. The lawyers—they're already talking about plea bargain." She says tearfully, and she looks around the room, crying.
"Look, Bec, if Zack didn't do this, it means someone else did. Any idea who?" Sam asks her and she shakes her head but stops.
"Um, there was something, about a week before. Somebody broke in here and stole some clothes—Zack's clothes. The police—they don't think it's anything. I mean, we're not that far from downtown. Sometimes people get robbed." She informs us and Sam walks away, while I walk over to the front door and open it, seeing the neighbor's dog barking loudly. Rebecca comes up next to me. "You know, that used to be the sweetest dog." She tells me, looking at it.
"What happened?" I ask her, curious.
"He just changed." She replies.
"Do you remember when he changed?" I question her.
"I guess around the time of the murder." She answers and I look at her for a minute before walking away. I find Sam and Dean looking at a picture of Sam, Becky and Zack. I walk over to them.
"So, the neighbor's dog went psycho right around the time Zack's girlfriend was killed." I inform them.
"Animals can have a sharp sense of the paranormal." Sam explains.
"Yeah, maybe Fido saw somethin'." Dean suggest and we turn to him.
"So, you think maybe this is our kind of problem?" Sam asks him, smirking.
"No. Probably not. But we should look at the security tape, you know, just to make sure." Dean tells us.
"Yeah." I say kissing his cheek while raising a brow at him. He just smirks at me.
"Yeah." He says and then Becky walks over to us. "So, the tape. The security footage—you think maybe your lawyers could get their hands on it, 'cause I just don't have that kind of jurisdiction." Dean explains to her.
"I've already got it. I didn't wanna say something in front of the cop." She informs us, Dean laughs. "I stole it off the lawyer's desk. I just had to see it for myself." She tells us.
"All right." Dean says and we all leave. We head back to Becky's and start watching the tapes.
"Here he comes." She tells us and the tape shows Zack entering his house.
"22:04, that's just after ten. You said time of death was about 10:30." Dean remarks after noticing the time stamp.
"Our lawyers hired some kind of video expert. He says the tape's authentic. It wasn't tampered with." She informs us and Sam seems to notice something on the tape.
"Hey, Bec, can we take those beers now?" He asks her.
"Oh, sure." She says and gets up to head to the kitchen.
"Hey." He calls and she turns around. " Maybe some sandwiches, too?" He asks her.
"What do you think this is, Hooters?" She asks rhetorically and then leaves.
"I wish." Dean says and I hit him, then we walk over to Sam. "What is it?" He asks Sam.
"Check this out." He tells us as he rewinds the tape, then replays it. One of the frames shows Zack looking directly at the camera. His eyes are silver. Sam pauses the tape.
"Well, maybe it's just a camera flare." Dean suggests.
"That's not like any camera flare I've ever seen. You know, a lot of cultures believe that a photograph can catch a glimpse of the soul." Sam explains.
"Right." I agree.
"Remember that dog that was freakin' out? Maybe he saw this thing. Maybe this is some kind of dark double of Zack's, something that looks like him but isn't him." Sam supplies and I think it over.
"Like a Doppelganger." Dean interjects.
"Yeah. It'd sure explain how he was two places at once." Sam tells us. Sam wakes us up at 5:30 in the morning and we head over to Zack's house. I insisted we stop for coffee before we went anywhere and I was so thankful I did. We park behind his house in and we get out.
"Alright, so what are we doin' here at 5:30 in the morning?" Dean asks him, voicing my thoughts.
"I realized something. The videotape shows the killer goin' in, but not comin' out." Sam explains.
"So, he came out the back door?" Dean suggests, leaning against the hood of the car, and I hop on to it, sitting on it.
"Right. So, there should be a trail to follow. A trail the police would never pursue." Sam agrees.
"'Cause they think the killer never left. And they caught your friend Zack inside. I still don't know what we're doin' here at 5:30 in the morning." I interject as Sam looks around and I notice smeared blood on a telephone pole not too far away.
"Blood. Somebody came this way." Sam tells us.
"Yeah, but the trail ends. I don't see anything over here." Dean informs us after looking around. An ambulance drives past them and we all share looks before heading in that direction. We get to the scene to see an Asian man, handcuffed, stepping into a police car.
"What happened?" I ask a woman standing near me.
"He tried to kill his wife. Tied her up and beat her." She informs me and that sounds like Zack's case.
"Really?" Sam asks her.
"I used to see him going to work in the morning. He'd wave, say hello. He seemed like such a nice guy." She says as we watch the man get taken away. Later we're on the side of the house, looking around. Sam and I are checking in garbage cans but we don't find anything so we head to the front of the house, where Dean comes behind us.
"Hey." He says and we turn around. "Remember when I said this wasn't our kind of problem?" Dean reminds us and I smirk.
"Yeah." Sam replies.
"Definitely our kind of problem." Dean admits.
"What'd you find out?" I ask him, curious as to the new information.
"Well, I just talked to the patrolman who was first on the scene, heard this guy, Alex's story. Apparently the dude was driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked." Dean explains.
"So, he was two places at once." I interject and Dean nods.
"Exactly. Then he sees himself in the house, police think he's a nutjob." Dean summarizes.
"Two dark doubles attacking loved ones in exactly the same way." Sam says.
"Could be the same thing doin' it, too." Dean suggests and I think for a second.
"Shapeshifter?" I ask and Dean shrugs. "Something that can make itself look like anyone?" I offer.
"Every culture in the world has a shapeshifter lore. You know, legends of creatures who can transform themselves into animals or other men." Dean informs us and I bite my lip because he's so hot when he explains lore to me, because well, it doesn't happen that often.
"Right, skinwalkers, werewolves." Sam agrees.
"We've got two attacks within blocks of each other. I'm guessin' we've got a shapeshifter prowlin' the neighborhood." Dean tells us.
"Let me ask you this—in all this shapeshifter lore, can any of them fly?" Sam asks and I raise a brow.
"Not that I know of." I tell him, confused.
"I picked up a trail here. Someone ran out the back of this building and headed off this way." He explains.
"Just like your friend's house." Dean realizes.
"Yeah. And, just like at Zack's house, the trail suddenly ends. I mean, whatever it is just disappeared." Sam tells us and I frown when something occurs to me.
"Well, there's another way to go—down." I tell them and we all look down, noticing a manhole. We head down into the sewers and I gag at the smell.
"Winchester, you owe me a night out that isn't hunting or walking around a sewer or no sex for, like, a month." I tell him and he chuckles.
"Don't say I never take you anywhere, Soph." He tells me and I roll my eyes, and Sam clears his throat.
"I bet this runs right by Zack's house, too. The shapeshifter could be using the sewer system to get around." Sam informs us.
"I think you're right. Look at this." Dean says, and we bend down to examine a pile of blood and skin on the ground. I share a disgusted look with Dean.
"Is this from his victims?" Sam asks and Dean takes out a pocketknife, holding up some skin.
"You know, I just had a sick thought. When the shapeshifter changes shape—maybe it sheds." He says and I look at Sam, revolted at that thought.
"That is sick." Sam admits and Dean puts the bloody pile back on the ground. We head back to the impala and Dean opens the trunk to the weapons compartment and begins taking some out.
"Well, one thing I learned from Dad, is that no matter what kind of shapeshifter it is, there's one sure way to kill it." Dean tells us.
"Silver bullet to the heart." Sam supplies and I smile.
"That's right." Dean tells him and Sam's phone rings, so he walks a little ways away to answer it.
"Since it's a shifter, we have to be careful, it could take anyone's form." Dean reminds me and I nod.
"I know, Dean. Besides, I would know if it wasn't you. We've been together for a few months now. I know all the little things you do, your little quirks. And if he doesn't flirt with everything that walks, that would be a big red flag that he isn't you." I tell him, winking and he pulls me to him, kissing me. We break apart when we hear Sam apologize and we walk over to him. He looks so disappointed.
"I hate to say it, but that's exactly what I'm talkin' about. You lie to your friends because if they knew the real you, they'd be freaked. It's just—it'd be easier if-" Dean starts to say.
"If I was like you." Sam interrupts and I don't like what he's implying, or how he says it, for that matter.
"Hey, man, like it or not, we are not like other people. But I'll tell you one thing. This whole gig—it ain't without perks." Dean tells him, holding up two guns, which Sam and I both take and tuck into the backs of our jeans before we walk away. We go back down into the sewers to look around for the shifter.
"I think we're close to its lair." Dean announces to us.
"Why do you say that?" I ask him.
"Because there's another puke-inducing pile next to your face, sweetheart." He tells me and I turn to see more blood and skin on a nearby pipe.
"Oh, God!" I exclaim brushing myself off and look around, noticing a pile of clothes in a corner.
"Looks like it's lived here for a while." Dean supplies.
"Who knows how many murders he's gotten away with?" Sam says and Sam and I both turn to see the shifter, still disguised as the Asian man, standing behind Dean. " Dean!" Sam calls out and Dean turns, getting punched by the shifter. He falls to the ground and the shifter runs away. Sam and I shoot after it a few times but we both miss. I move over to Dean.
"Get the son of a bitch!" Dean yells and we all chase after the shifter. We split up, Dean going into an alley, Sam going on a side street and I run onto the main street. I stop in the middle of the street and turn quickly to see Dean running up behind me.
"Dean? I thought you were taking the alley?" I ask him, confused as to why he's here.
"I lost the bastard. I wanted to make sure you were okay, that he didn't get you. I was worried." He tells me but I'm not convinced.
"Mm-hmm. You never worry about me. According to you, I'm one of the best hunters you know." I tell 'Dean' playfully and he smirks.
"Well, you are. You are an amazing hunter, so I thought if I stick with you, I'd be safe." He tells me, winking, and I have to admit, it's almost like Dean, but something in his eyes isn't right, so I raise my gun and his eyebrows raise.
"Sophie, what are you doing? It's me." He tells me and I shake my head.
"No, there's something in your eyes that's off. What did you do with Dean? Where is he?!" I yell at him and he grins, wickedly, his eyes flashing silver. He rushes forward and twists my arm back and hits me on the head and everything goes black.
Sam POV
I wait on a street corner for Sophie and Dean to meet me.
"Hey." I hear Dean call out and I turn around. "Anything?" He asks me.
"No. He's gone. Where's Soph?" I ask him, wondering where she is.
"All right, let's get back to the car, she's probably waiting for us there." Dean tells me and we head back to the car. We stop at the car and Sophie isn't there, so she must have been taken.
"You think he found another way underground? Took Soph with him?" I ask Dean.
"Yeah, probably. You got the keys?" Dean says not worried about Sophie and I stop, thinking for a minute. Dean would normally be going crazy at the thought of Sophie being missing.
"Hey, didn't Dad once face a shapeshifter in San Antonio?" I ask 'Dean', testing him.
"Oh, that was Austin. It turned out not to be a shapeshifter, it was a thought form. A psychic projection, remember?" 'Dean' reminds me.
"Oh, right. Here ya go." I say, throwing the keys and walking away. "Don't move!" I tell him, and 'Dean' turns to see me pointing the gun at him. "What have you done with them?" I ask him.
"Dude, chill. It's me, all right?" 'Dean' tries to tell me.
"No, I don't think so. Where's my brother? Where's Sophie?" I ask him again, getting mad.
"You're about to shoot him and we'll find Sophie. Sam, calm down." He tells me.
"You caught those keys with your left hand. Your shoulder was hurt." I tell him.
"Yeah, it's better. What do you want me to do, cry?" He asks, sarcastically, almost like Dean would.
"You're not my brother." I say to him.
"Why don't you pull the trigger, then? Hm? 'Cause you're not sure. Dude, you know me." 'Dean' tries to convince me again, but I don't buy it.
"Don't." I warn him. The shapeshifter pauses before hitting me twice with a crowbar. I fall to the ground, everything going black. I wake up in a dusty room, my neck and hands bound to a wooden post. The shapeshifter walks over to me and backhands me, causing me to groan.
"Where is he? Where's Dean? And where's Sophie?" I ask him.
"I wouldn't worry about him. I'd worry about you." He tells me but I ignore it.
"Where is he? Where is she?" I ask again.
"You don't really wanna know." He replies, chuckling. "I swear, the more I learn about you and your family—I thought I came from a bad background." He tells me.
"What do you mean, learn?" I ask confused and the shifter grabs his head and grimaces in pain. I look at the shapeshifter, confused. The shapeshifter relaxes and looks at me.
"He's sure got issues with you. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home. With Dad. You don't think I had dreams of my own? To have a normal life with Sophie? But Dad needed me, needed Sophie. Where the hell were you?" The shifter asks me.
"Where is my brother? Where is Sophie?" I ask again and the shapeshifter leans in close to me.
"I am your brother. See, deep down, I'm just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I'm a freak. And sooner or later, everybody's gonna leave me. Even Sophie'll leave too." He says, backing away.
"What are you talkin' about?" I ask, confused.
"You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothin', just poof. Left me with your sorry ass. But, still, this life? It's not without its perks." He tells me and then laughs. "Like Sophie. You know, Dean really loves her, like enough to leave the life and settle down. I've seen some pretty steamy moments between them. She's at Becky's right now, protecting her. Let's see if I can recreate some." He says, smiling as he covers me with a sheet.
Sophie POV
I wake up with a nasty headache and I bloody gash on my forehead and I walk to Becky's. She opens the door and gasps when she sees my head.
"Look, we lied. It was a shitty thing to do but we were trying to help. Let me in and I'll explain. Please, Becky." I tell her and she opens the door enough for me to walk in.
Sam POV
"Damn it." I mutter, and I hear movement in another part of the room and someone coughing.
"That better be you, Sam, and not that freak of nature." Dean calls out and I laugh.
"Yeah, it's me." I tell him. "He went to find Sophie at Becky's, lookin' like you." I inform him.
"Well, he's not stupid. He picked the handsome one." Dean calls out and I give him a confused look before continuing to work through my ropes.
Sophie POV
We walk in to the living room, and Becky heads into a bathroom and comes back with some medicine.
"This should help with your headache." She says and I smile before I take the pills.
"Thanks." I tell her and she heads down the hallway. The pills she gave me start to kick in, and they hit me hard.
"Shit, what did she give me?" I mumble to myself as I grab the railing to steady myself. I see Dean walk up to me and I smile.
"Dean! You're okay." I say, relieved, until I see it isn't Dean. I try to scream but his hand covers my mouth.
"Little Becky's unconscious right now. Nobody can hear you scream. We're going to have some fun." He tells me, removing his hand and slamming his lips onto mine. It's the exact copy of Dean's lips but it feels so wrong whereas Dean's kisses feel so right. I jerk away and wipe my lips.
"Don't do that again. You aren't Dean. You're just some freak wearing his face like a halloween mask." I tell him and he backhands me so hard I fall back and hit my head on the edge of a stair, my vision blurring, I see his face grinning at me before everything going black.
Sam POV
"Yeah, that's the thing. He didn't just look like you, he was you. Or he was becoming you." I inform him.
"What do you mean?" Dean asks me, confused.
"I don't know, it was like he was downloading your thoughts and memories." I explain to him.
"You mean, like the Vulcan mind meld?" Dean asks me.
"Yeah, somethin' like that. I mean, maybe that's why he doesn't just kill us." I suggest and Dean walks over to me.
"Maybe he needs to keep us alive. Psychic connection." He says as he starts untying my ropes.
"Hands. Yeah. Come on, we gotta go. He's probably got Sophie already." I say and we hurry to Becky's to save Sophie.
Sophie POV
I wake up, tied to a bed, and stripped down to my black bra and panties. I struggle against the ropes until I hear chuckling, which makes me freeze. It's not him. It's the shifter, not Dean, Sophie.
"No use, babe, you can't escape. We're going to have some fun. Besides, I thought you like this face." He says from his spot leaning against the wall and I glare at him.
"It isn't just his face, it's him. He's kind, and brave, and he is the most compassionate man I've ever met. You are nothing like him, so don't try to be him. You're just hiding behind a mask." I bite out and he gets on top of me, takes out a knife and starts making small cuts on my stomach. I gasp in pain and he stops.
"You're only making this more painful than it needs to be, Sophie. This could be so much more, pleasurable." He says smirking, leaning down to kiss my but I turn my head in disgust. He growls and slaps me. A tear falls as I look into his face, Dean's face, that has so much hate in it, where love is usually present. He wraps a hand around my throat and chokes me for a minute until I have black spots.
"For that, I'll make this slow and very painfully for you." He promises, making slightly deeper cuts on my ambdomen and than taking the knife up to my breast and lightly tracing the border of where my bra stops on my breast. I let a few more tears escape before I decide I won't let him see me fall apart. I hear the front door kicked in and he gets off me, heading to the door.
"I'll be back. Just got to go kill that boyfriend of yours." He tells me, closing the door behind him. I let my tears fall freely, and struggle against the restraints again. I hear several gunshots and I let out a whimper. Oh god, Dean. He actually killed him. I pull at the sheets tied around my wrists and ankles until I feel them creating rope burns, but that just makes me struggle harder. Suddenly the door slams open and Dean, no, the shifter is standing there, gun in hand and I let out a sob.
"You killed him. Oh, god." I sob and then he comes over and takes out the knife, and I flinch back, trying to sink into the bed. "Please, no more." I beg and he cuts my restraints. I immediately sit up and hurriedly move backwards, away from him, putting my head in my hands, not looking at him.
"Soph, sweetheart, it's me. I swear it's me. The first time we met, you were wearing a def leopard t-shirt and ripped jeans and that big leather jacket with your chuck taylors. I held you while you cried when you woke up from a nightmare that night. I've been in love with you since I was 16. Look at me, Soph." He pleads and I look up, seeing his teary eyes, so full of love, fear and maybe guilt.
"Dean?" I ask, my voice raspy and he nods, a tear falling down his cheek before he brushes it away quickly.
"Yeah, baby. Are you okay? Did he- I mean, I know that you're probably in shock it's just, I have to know if he-" Dean stumbles through his words and I shake my head.
"No. He was going to, but you stopped him." I tell him, my voice still raspy and he sighs, relieved.
"You want me to get Becky to help you get cleaned up?" He asks and I shake my head, as I stand up and walk into the bathroom connected to the room. Dean walks in and reaches over to brush a piece of hair out of my face and I flinch unintentionally. I cover my mouth with my hand and look up at him.
"Dean, I.." I try to say but he shakes his head.
"Don't apologize, sweetheart. I'll go get Becky." He says sadly, I look up and see the hurt in his face and once he leave I break into sobs. Becky rushes into the room, with a duffel bag, and takes me in her arms, holding me while I sob.
DPOV
After Soph flinches from me, I try to hide the hurt that it caused me and I hurry out of the room, downstairs where Sam and Becky waited. They both turn to me, anxiously.
"How is she?" Sam asks, worriedly. I turn to Becky.
"Can you help her get cleaned up? Some of her clothes are in this bag." I tel her grabbing the duffel from the table, and handing it to her.
"Of course." She says, taking the bag and hurrying upstairs. Sam looks at me expectantly and I sigh, running a hand through my hair.
"If that son of a bitch wasn't already dead, I'd kill him, Sammy." I tell him and he nods.
"How is she?" He asks me again.
"She just about jumps every time I so much as breathe. She flinched away from me, Sammy. She's scared of me. That bastard tried to- and she's so scared of me I don't think she'll trust me again." I tell him, fear and hurt lacing my voice.
"Dean, she loves you so much. She's loved you for 11 years. She just had a traumatic experience but she won't be scared of you forever. Just give her some time and you'll see." Sam says and I nod. Becky comes down with Soph behind her and I step back, giving her space, and I see her tear up. She hurries over to me and throws herself into my arms and I hug her back tightly as she buries her face in my shoulder and cries.
Sophie POV
After Becky helps me clean up, I change into a pair of worn out jeans, my brown combat boots, a red tank and a red and black flannel of Dean's before heading downstairs. Once he sees me, he steps back, to give me space and I feel my eyes fill with tears. Without thinking, I run to him and throw myself into his arms, because when I'm in his arms I feel safe, and I cry when he hugs me back tightly, almost like he's scared that if he loosens his grip, I'll run away.
"I'm sorry." I tell him and he shakes his head. He pulls back and looks into my eyes, I notice he has unshed tears in his.
"No, I'm sorry. I should've gotten here sooner. You've got nothing to apologize for, sweetheart." He tells me and I smile slightly.
"Neither do you Winchester. You saved me. You were my knight in shining armor. I love you." I tell him and he smiles, a genuine happy, relieved smile.
"I love you too, Soph." He says and I kiss him, showing him I'm not scared of him. Later, I'm looking over a map when Dean comes up behind me and I lean into him, now comfortable around him again.
"Hey." He says and I grin.
"Hey." I respond as he kisses my neck. I bite my lip and look over at Sam and Becky.
"Look at them." I tell him and we glance at them. Becky waves at us and we wave back to her before she goes back inside. Sam walks over to us.
"So, what about your friend, Zack?" Dean asks him.
"Cops are blamin' this Dean Winchester guy for Emily's murder. They found the murder weapon in the guy's lair, Zack's clothes stained with her blood. Now they're thinking maybe the surveillance tape was tampered with. Yeah, Becky says Zack will be released soon." Sam tells us, smiling and Dean rolls his eyes, getting in the car. Sam gets in the passenger seat and I take my place in the backseat.
"Sorry, man." Dean tells Sam.
"About what?" Sam asks him curiously.
"I really wish things could be different, you know? I wish you could just be….Joe College. That we both could have normal lives." Dean says, glancing in the rear view mirror and I smile at him.
"No, that's okay. You know, the truth is, even at Stanford, deep down, I never really fit in." He tells us.
"Well, that's 'cause you're a freak." I tell him playfully, leaning forward and nudging him.
"Yeah, thanks." Sam says to me and I giggle.
"Well, I'm a freak, too. So is Soph, we're right there with ya, all the way." Dean tells him and Sam laughs.
"Yeah, I know you are." Sam tells us.
"You know, I gotta say—I'm sorry I'm gonna miss it." Dean tells us and I look at him.
"Miss what?" I ask him, confused.
"How many chances am I gonna have to see my own funeral?" He asks and I roll my eyes while he and Sam smile at each other as we continue down the road.