Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original character.
Chapter 1:
Wendigo: Part 1
"Wake him up."
"I'm not gonna wake him up. He barely gets enough sleep as it is since everything happened."
Addie stared coldly at Dean then looked at Sam, who was tossing and turning in his sleep - quite an accomplishment for the small space they were all confined to. She reached over the front seat and grabbed their father's journal where it lay on the smooth leather and flipped it to a page Sam had shown her earlier.
"I can't believe he's still using fucking coordinates," she muttered.
Dean snorted. "Did you really expect him to change while you were gone?"
"No," she said shortly. "I just -"
At that moment, Sam woke with a start, looking around frantically, and then tried to calm himself as he realized where he was. Addie reached over the seat and rubbed his shoulder.
"You with us, Sam?" she asked softly.
He nodded and lifted one hand, wrapping it around hers and squeezing lightly. "'M fine, Add...thanks."
"Another nightmare?" Dean asked abruptly. Sam didn't look at him, and Dean nodded, leading to Addie smacking his arm hard, but not enough to interfere with his driving.
"You don't have to read my mind," Sam told him.
"You wanna drive for a while?" Dean asked.
Sam actually laughed at that. "Your whole life you never once asked me that."
Dean shrugged.
"Just thought you might want to. Nevermind."
"Look, man, you're worried about me. I get it, and thank you, but I'm perfectly okay."
Addie rolled her eyes.
"Yeah that's totally believable."
He turned around in his seat and glared at her. "I'm fine."
"Mhm." Dean said. Sam didn't respond. Instead, he grabbed a map and opened it.
"Where are we?"
"Just outside Grand Junction," Addie told him.
Sam looked down at the map. "It's weird," he replied, "These coordinates he left us. This Blackwater Ridge - There's nothing there. It's just woods." he looked at Dean. "Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?"
Dean didn't answer.
"So Blackwater Ridge is pretty remote." Addie rolled her eyes and looked around the room. Sam was in what she deemed as 'lecture mode'. It reminded her of her professors during her time in community college. She was tempted to tune him out, but she knew it was important for her to listen. "It's cut off by these canyons here," he gestured to the map he'd been looking at. "rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place."
Addie shifted her weight and thumbed through one of the books she'd found on the wildlife at Blackwater idly. She was already past bored with the Lost Creek Ranger Station.
"Guys check out the size of this freaking bear."
When she looked up from the book, she saw Dean holding up a picture of a man with a huge bear. She crossed the room and shoved him, chuckling quietly. Sam moved to get a closer look.
"And a dozen or more grizzlies in the area," he commented. "It's no nature hike, that's for sure."
"You kids aren't planning on going out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance?" a voice said.
A ranger had walked in. Addie thought fast - what would be a convincing cover for them to assume?
College students...researchers. Addie smiled, relieved that the thought had come so quickly. Maybe she hadn't forgotten everything.
"We're enviromental study majors from UC Boulder, just working on a paper." she blurted.
The ranger surveyed her for a moment, and maybe it was too long, because Dean thrust a fist in the air.
"Recycle man." he said, grinning at them.
Addie wanted to kill him - given time (and the lack of his idiocy) they might have convinced the guy, but that wasn't happening.
"Bull." the ranger snapped, and Addie's face fell. "You're friends with that Haley girl, right?"
Addie nodded, deciding to go with it. "Yes. Yes, Ranger Wilkinson." she replied after a quick glance at his name badge.
Ranger Wilkinson sighed.
"Well I will tell you exactly what we told her. Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater until the twenty-fourth, so it's not exactly a missing persons, now is it?" she and Dean both shook their heads. "You tell that girl to quit worrying. I'm sure her brother's just fine."
"We will. Thanks." Addie said quickly before Dean could open his mouth. She turned to her brothers and jerked her head toward the exit. "Let's go guys."
As they climbed back into the Impala, Dean caught his big sister's eye in the rear view mirror.
"Like riding a bike huh?" he said, smiling at her.
"Uh-huh."
She didn't smile back.
"Alright, this time just shut the fuck up and let me do the talking," Addie glared at Dean who was staring at her incredulously. "What? My cover story would've held if you'd kept your mouth shut."
They were parked outside of what Sam had determined to be the house that Haley lived in.
"Hey you weren't trying to sell it harder - I was trying to help!"
"Well this time don't!" she snarled.
He glared at her as they walked up to the front door. Addie reached over and knocked. A few minutes later, it opened to reveal a girl with dark hair, wearing a black tank top and jeans.
Addie smiled tentatively at her. God she hoped this would be as easy as lying to Ranger Wilkinson.
"You must be Haley Collins," she greeted. "I'm Addison, this is Dean and Sam." she gestured to her brothers. "We're, uh...rangers with the Park Service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over. He wanted us to ask a few questions about your brother, Tommy."
Thank God Dean had managed to sneak a copy of the permit Tommy Collins had filed, or she would be lost right now.
Haley eyed them hesitantly through her screen door. "Let me see some ID."
Addie, Sam and Dean quickly produced the fake IDs Dean had fished out of his glove compartment when they left the Ranger station and held them up for Haley to see. She sighed and opened the door for them.
"Come on in."
Haley led them into her kitchen where another boy was seated at the table while on his laptop.
"My brother, Ben." she introduced, and Addie smiled tentatively at him.
"So if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know something's wrong?" asked Sam.
Haley, who'd gone to retrieve a bowl, returned to the table and placed it down on the table.
"He checks in every day by cell. He emails, photos, stupid little videos - we haven't heard anything in over three days now."
Addie glanced at her brothers. "Dead battery maybe? My cell only lasts so long, you know - gotta keep a charger close by."
Haley shook her head. "Even if, he's got a satellite phone."
Dean shrugged. "Could it be he's just having fun aand forgot to check in?"
Ben looked up abruptly. "He wouldn't do that."
Addie glanced at Haley, who'd gone to get more food to put on the table. "Let me help you with that," she said, leaving Sam and Dean to their own devices.
"Our parents are gone," she told Addie as Addie took a couple of bowls from her arms. "It's just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other."
Addie smiled. "I used to be like that with my brothers."
Haley cocked her head to the side, staring at Addie intently. "What happened?"
Addie was silent for a moment. "Their life wasn't the one I wanted."
"Oh hell no!"
"What? You've roughed it in nature before." Dean rolled his eyes at Addison and passed her a beer.
"That's not my point, Dean! We have no fucking indication Dad is here at all, except some lousy coordinates!"
"That doesn't mean he's not here." Dean shot back. "Haley's brother is missing. Sam told you what Mr. Shaw saw when he was a kid." Shaw was an elderly man they'd visited before going to see Haley. His parents had been killed, supposedly by a grizzly - but what kind of bear could break into a locked cabin? Addie grimaced at remembering the description Shaw had fed her brothers of the night his parents had died. She hadn't wanted to go in. Part of her was still stuck in the real world...the one where monsters didn't exist. "This thing is real...and they could be attacked tomorrow. Haley won't back down on going down to the Ridge to find her brother."
Addie shook her head. "You guys go. I -"
"What the fuck is your problem?" he demanded. "You were fine with everything up to this point - now that we know it's not a spirit, that it's an actual creature, you want to bail?"
Addie
"Fuck you, Dean."
She ran from the bar, pissing off several patrons as she shoved past them. Dean followed, against Sam's advice to let her be.
"You don't get to do this again," he told her angrily as he watched her pull out her cell, likely about to call for a cab. He grabbed it before she could punch any number. "You don't get to run without an explanation."
"Hey!" she tried to grab it again, but he held it out of her reach. The downside of being a big sister was having brothers that were both taller than you were. Damn teenage growth spurts.
"Talk to me, Addie." he said quietly. "You wanted back in. Why do you suddenly want back out?"
"It makes everything real again." she whispered, turning away from him and wrapping her arms around herself. "Dean, I haven't slept with a knife under my pillow in years - I haven't salted windows, or spray-painted Devil's Traps on the carpet. I felt safe - happy. And now I'm back in a world where that's not gonna cut it. I don't know if I can deal with that."
"Then you let us help you." Sam had joined them, and he pulled her into a hug. "Okay? Just...don't leave again, Add. Please. Don't put us through that again."
She hesitated. She'd wanted back in to find their dad - to find the thing that had killed her family. She knew she'd regret it if she backed out, but...
"Well I guess I should find some hiking boots then." she said finally, gesturing to the tennis shoes she was wearing. "These aren't gonna cut it." Sam smiled in relief and hugged her, and she felt Dean slip her phone back into her hand. "Let's figure out what this is and gank the fucker."
I decided to break it into two parts 'cause it just wasn't cuttin' it to cram everything in here. I have more focus on Addie coming in part 2, which I think is gonna be better than just inserting her into the episode.
Anyway, reviews are welcome. Constructive criticism is accepted - no flames please!