(S1EP4 - Phantom Traveler)

Alina was waiting for Sam in the car while he was getting coffees and pastries for the breakfast. She went through the cassettes collection for the 100th time, and was about to give up, when another cassette fell out of the glove compartment. It was as if it hadn't been used in a very long time.

When Sam finally came back, he surprisingly found his friend with a big smile on her face. "You look cheerful."

Alina proudly showed him the cassette, almost in tears from the nostalgia. "He kept it!"

Sam recognized the name Pat Benatar, and immediately understood what made her smile like that. When they were younger and Alina would woke up first, she used to play the music "We Belong", and sang it at full volume in order to wake them up in the greatest chaos. She never hesitated to jump on the beds and smash pillows on their faces, which always succeeded to enrage the half asleep Dean.

Of course, she hadn't chosen this song randomly, since it was her parents' favorite. When they weren't singing it to each other, they very often danced alone in the living room to the music that had thus been, the melody of the young woman's childhood.

And even though she hadn't listened to it ever since her father's death, she couldn't help but smile at the good memories associated to it.

"You're okay?" Sam asked after a short moment of silence between the two of them.

"Yeah. I just miss this, you know? Our childhood, my dad...my mom. It wasn't perfect, but it was more than enough."

She then stayed silent again, staring at the cassette a little longer before turning to Sam. He was looking at her with sad eyes. And before she could ask him the same question, he simply handed her a cup of coffee with a smile, and started the engine. Their sleeping disorders made them often wake up around the same time, so they had decided this morning to go and buy breakfast together.

So when they got back to their motel room, they weren't surprised to find Dean still in his bed, looking at them with one closed eye.

"Morning, sunshine." Sam declared as he waived the coffees and pastries in front of his brother's bed.

"What time is it?" Dean asked in a grumpy voice that Alina recognized all too well.

From the way his body was slowly relaxing from its tensed up position when they had entered the room, she knew he'd been surprised by their arrival. He'd probably started to grab the knife under his pillow until he finally got to see them.

"Uh, it's about five forty-five."

"In the morning?"

"I didn't know you were so good at maths." Alina sarcastically answered with her mouth full of donuts.

"Okay, I'll be back in two or three hours." He replied as he laid back on the bed.

Alina shook her head in disbelief, but Sam grabbed her attention when he suddenly left the room. She frowned and waited a few minutes before he was back with a small radio cassette player, and the piece of nostalgia she had found earlier in the car. She didn't know where the radio was coming from, but she couldn't care less as the sight lighted up her mood. She quickly put the cassette inside the player and let the music begin in a low volume, slowly turning it up with each steps that was getting her closer to her sleeping friend. "Don't want to leave you really. I've invested too much time." She sang in a soft voice.

"To give you up that easy..." She leaned over Dean's sleeping face, and suddenly shouted. "To the doubts that complicate your mind!"

Dean woke up in a jump, as Alina was now standing up next to him on his bed. "We belong to the light! We belong to the thunder!"

"No..." It was too late when Dean realized what was happening to him. "Frenchy! Come on!" He complained and shoved his head inside his pillow.

"Whatever we deny or embrace! For worse or for better! Weeee belong! We belong! We belong together!" She grabbed the bed sheet under him, and violently threw it back on top of him. "You know the rules, Winchester!" She yelled over the music. "I'll keep singing until you decide to wake up!"

Dean pushed the sheet away from his head in anger. "Fine! I'm awake!"

"Have we become a habit?!" She kept singing as if the music was too loud for her to hear what he was trying to say. "Now there's no looking forward! Now there's no turning..."

Dean pulled her down with force to stop her, just like he used to do when they were kids. She fought back without a second of hesitation, to the point where they both fell off the bed. But being on the floor didn't stop Dean from holding the girl from behind, with one arm wrapped around her, and one hand on her mouth.

"Sammy you stop that damn song right now!" He ordered in his big scary voice.

Since his brother was now fully awake, Sam obeyed and stopped the music, also relieved that the show was over. He loved to see Alina so happy like when she was just a kid, but his ears weren't used to this anymore.

And he could still hear Alina's angry groans under Dean's hand.

"You know the rules, Frenchy. Stop fighting and I'll let you go."

He clearly heard a little "Jerk", after saying that, but soon enough the girl in his arms started to calm down.

Now that they were adults, it would have been quick and easy for Alina to free herself from her prison, but she didn't want to start the day by punching him again. She'd already done that enough times lately.

Dean let go of her after a few more seconds, and she simply rolled on her back, both now laying on the floor next to each other.

"I'm surprised you didn't throw away that cassette ages ago. Aren't you a bit masochist, Winchester?"

"I guess I am..."

He then got up and sat back on the side of his bed, still tired but definitely awake. He heard Sam laughing at them from behind and immediately turned his attention to him. "Did you get any sleep last night?" He asked his brother to make the sadistic smile on his face disappear.

"Yeah, I grabbed a couple hours." Sam lied like an expert.

"Liar. 'Cause I was up at three, and you were watching a George Foreman infomercial."

Alina quickly stood up too, and discreetly ran towards her abandoned donut to avoid getting interrogated as well.

"Hey, what can I say? It's riveting TV." Sam replied while throwing a betrayed look at his friend.

"When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?"

Dean definitely wasn't trying to mess with his brother anymore. The concern in his voice was easy to detect, and it put a smile on Alina's lips. She decided to sit at the small table in the corner of the room with her breakfast, so she could easily listen to their conversation, without reminding them of her existence.

"I don't know, a little while, I guess. It's not a big deal."

"Yeah, it is."

"Look, I appreciate your concern..."

"Oh, I'm not concerned about you. It's your job to keep my ass alive, so I need you sharp."

Sam simply chuckled at his brother's comment.

"Seriously, are you still having nightmares about Jess?"

Alina flinched at his question, even though it wasn't addressed to her. She'd spent so much time trying not to mention Jessica, that hearing her name almost felt like a slap. She kept her head down, still refusing to look at the brothers when Sam crossed the room to sit on his bed in front of Dean, and handed him a coffee.

"Yeah. But it's not just her. It's everything. I just forgot, you know? This job. Man, it gets to you."

"You can't let it. You can't bring it home like that."

The young woman knew it wasn't the type of answer Sam needed to hear right now, but just couldn't get herself to speak and tell Dean how stupid his logic was.

"So, what? All this it...never keeps you up at night?"

Alina could see Dean shake his head in the corner of her eye, and had to resist the urge to yell at him.

"Never? You're never afraid?"

"No, not really."

"Oh come on!" The brothers almost jumped at the girl's scream of indignation, and turned to her. "That's complete bullshit! Hunters are constantly afraid, they just deal with their fears in different ways. And by the way, you shouldn't put a freaking hunting knife under your pillow when someone else is sleeping next to you."

Dean just stared at her for a moment, completely astounded, then noticed Sam reaching under his pillow to pull out the large knife and hold it up as evidence. He took the knife back. "That's not fear. That is precaution."

"All right, whatever. I'm too tired to argue." Sam replied, leaving Dean totally free to pass on to his next victim.

"So what, Frenchy? Are you that scared of a little knife that you have to sneak out of bed every night?"

Alina instantly regretted her provocation. She just wished she'd kept her mouth shut. But instead of changing tactics, she surprised herself by using the same sarcastic tone as him. "For someone pretending to sleep like a baby, you sure seem to notice a lot of what's going on during the night."

"I'm serious Alina."

When she was younger, she hated it when he called her 'Frenchy'. Now, she knew that her name coming out of his mouth was ten times worse than the lazy nickname.

"It's been days now." He was obviously referring to the time she'd tried to kill him, after he'd woken her up from that horrible nightmare. "Are you still having nightmares?"

"Yes. Dean. I do." She intentionally insisted on his name when she said it. "I do have nightmares, because I have to deal with evil spirits, monsters, and your grumpy ass on a daily basis ever since I was born."

Dean was about to retort with another attack, but fortunately his phone interrupted him before he could. Alina internally sighed in relief, and refocused on the donuts while Dean was taking the call. "Hello?"

LATER

It only took a few hours for the three hunters to meet in person with the man on the other line. Jerry Panowski, an ordinary Air Traffic Controller, who had already received Dean and John's help in the past, and seemed to have a new case for them. Alina was glad to be working on a new job with the brothers, but she also feared that as soon as they would be done there, Dean would ask her about the nightmares again. She hadn't dreamt about Chris after the incident with Dean, but the apprehension was strong enough for her to wake up in panic in the middle of the night, and refuse to fall asleep again. Especially next to the hunter and his hidden knife. She didn't want to hurt him.

"Thanks for making the trip so quick. I ought to be doing you guys a favor, not the other way around. Dean and his dad really helped me out." Jerry told Alina and Sam, as they all walked through a huge hangar.

"Yeah, he told us. It was a poltergeist?" Sam replied.

"Poltergeist?" A man passing by shouted enthusiastically. "Man, I loved that movie."

"Hey, nobody's talking to you. Keep walking." Jerry yelled at him, making Alina smile at the short interaction. He then turned back to the hunters with a serious face. "Damn right it was a poltergeist, practically tore our house apart. Tell you something, if it wasn't for you and your dad, I probably wouldn't be alive. Your dad said you were off at college. Is that right?"

"Yeah, I was. I'm...taking some time off."

"Well, he was real proud of you. I could tell. He talked about you all the time."

"He did?"

Alina gave Sam a 'Don't act so surprised' look, as the young man was frowning at the new information.

It wasn't a big reveal for Alina, since John talked a lot about his youngest son in his letters to her. But she'd only talked about this with Dean.

"Yeah, you bet he did. Oh, hey, you know I tried to get a hold of him, but I couldn't. How's he doing, anyway?"

"He's...wrapped up in a job right now."

Dean was pretty good at lying. In fact, the three of them were all good liars. They just couldn't fool each others that easily.

"Well, we're missing the old man, but we get Sam and Alina. Even trade, huh?"

Dean laughed.

"No, not by a long shot." Sam replied.

"Hey don't underestimate me Sammy. I'm good enough for the both of us."

They smiled and went into Jerry's office where he explained to them that the problem was coming from a recent plane crash. There were talks about a mechanical failure, for some reason due to a depressurized cabin, and over a hundred passengers only seven had survived the crash. The pilot, Jerry's friend, was one of them and the reason why he'd called for the hunters' help.

So after hearing all the informations, and the cockpit voice recorder of the flight, they already knew this was going to be their new occupation for the next few days.

"Jerry, we're gonna need passenger manifests, a list of survivors." Sam told the man.

"And...any way we can take a look at the wreckage?" Dean added.

"The other stuff is no problem. But the wreckage...fellas, the NTSB has it locked down in an evidence warehouse. No way I've got that kind of clearance."

Dean frowned a little, and nodded. "No problem."

Alina didn't like his tone, because it could only mean one thing. They needed new IDs.

LATER

Sam was waiting by the car, when he finally saw his brother and his friend coming out of the Copy Jack after what felt like an eternity. He watched in amazement, as an attractive woman entered the place at the same time, without being noticed by the two friends who seemed rather annoyed.

"You've been in there forever." Sam complained when they reached him.

Dean proudly held up his brother's new ID. "You can't rush perfection. Especially when the one who's supposed to help you is too busy flirting with a stranger."

"So what? If I flirt with a woman I'm a turn on, but if I flirt with a man I'm a whore?"

"That's not what I said, Frenchy. I'm just saying we're on a job right now."

"Do you even realize how hypocritical this sounds like coming from you?"

Sam cleared his throat to grab their attention back when he took his ID. "Homeland Security? That's pretty illegal guys, even for us."

That was what Alina had tried to tell Dean all along. She didn't really care about the US government, but she absolutely didn't want Interpol to get curious about her. Again.

"Yeah, well, it's something new. You know? People haven't seen it a thousand times."

Alina rolled her eyes at his boldness and followed the brothers inside the Impala, where Sam told them about the EVP he'd found on the cockpit voice recorder. The scratchy voice that came out of the device, made Alina cringe with only two words.

"No survivors?" Dean repeated confused. "What's that supposed to mean? There were seven survivors."

"Got me."

"So, what are you thinking? A haunted flight?"

"That wouldn't be good for you, right?" Alina whispered at him, getting an instant outraged look from the embarrassed man with the big secret.

Luckily, Sam didn't seem to have heard anything, completely focused on his theories. "There's a long history of spirits and death omens on planes and ships, like phantom travelers. Or remember flight 401?"

"Right. The one that crashed, the airline salvaged some of its parts, put it in other planes, then the spirit of the pilot and copilot haunted those flights."

"Maybe we got a similar deal."

"That's a good theory guys, but I don't think we'll be able to verify it by staying here all day. How about we go talk to the survivors?"

"Yeah she's right." Dean admitted, turning to the one who had studied the passengers list while they were working on the IDs. "So, survivors, which one do you want to talk to first?"

"Third on the list: Max Jaffey."

"Why him?"

"Well, for one, he's from around here. And two, if anyone saw anything weird, he did."

The Riverfront Psychiatric Hospital was the kind of place Alina wished to never end up in. She'd rather die in a gruesome way doing her job, than laying in an empty room thinking she could be crazy. Most of the patients would actually be sent here because of a traumatic first encounter with the supernatural world, and the hunter felt sorry for them. But she still respected their decision of denying the horrible truth. That wasn't a choice she could make.

"Mr. Joffey..."

"Jaffey."

Alina let Dean handle the questioning, too busy inspecting her surroundings. The garden of this hospital was the most peaceful, and probably the most stressful place she'd visited in a long time. She wasn't used to the silence. She needed action.

"Jaffey. You checked yourself in here, right? Can I ask why?"

"I was a little stressed. I survived a plane crash."

"Uh huh. And that's what terrified you? That's what you were afraid of?"

"I...I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"See, I think maybe you did see something up there. We need to know what."

"No. No, I was...delusional. Seeing things."

"He was seeing things." Dean told the other two hunters. And while Alina was still not paying attention to the conversation, Sam quickly grimaced at his brother's inconsiderate attitude.

The youngest had definitely more patience in him. "It's okay. Then just tell us what you thought you saw, please."

"There was...this man. And...he had these...eyes. These...black eyes."

Alina whole being immediately shut down. She couldn't control her head when it turned by itself to look at the scared man. "Black eyes?" She heard herself ask, louder than any of them had expected.

Max Jaffey simply nodded. "And I saw him...or I thought I saw him..."

"What?" Dean pushed him a little.

"He opened the emergency exit. But that's...that's impossible, right? I mean, I looked it up. There's something like two tons of pressure on that door."

Alina felt the sudden urge to throw up, but did her best to hide it when Sam asked another question. "This man, did he seem to appear and disappear rapidly? It would look something like a mirage or..."

"He was just a passenger, wasn't he?" Alina interrupted him, scared of the man's answer, and ignoring the brother's perplexed look.

"Yeah. He was sitting right in front of me."

She'd hoped that this new case would be a good distraction. She thought she could just do her job this time, without having to think about Chris, but clearly, the universe wanted to fuck with her. "Shit."

She surprised everyone by standing up in a flash, and walking abnormally fast towards the exit. She kept walking with her head down, until she stopped in the parking lot, nervously bitting her nails at the realization. This wasn't just another case. They weren't just fighting another spirit. It was more than that.

"Alina?"

She didn't even turned around. "Not now Dean."

"Hey come on Frenchy, talk to us." He tried to grab her arm but she was quick to pull it away from him. And she regretted doing it the second she laid her eyes on his concerned face.

She tried to calm down, and took a step closer to him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. It's just..."

"You know what that thing was?" Sam had joined them.

"I hope not. You know what? I'll go find a motel for us, you guys find the passenger's name, see if he has any family you could talk to."

"Wait..."

She didn't wait to hear what the brothers had to say to her. She left the parking lot, and started to wander in the streets. She spotted a park, a few bars, and as she walked past the facade of the library with very reflective windows, she saw in the corner of her eye, a familiar silhouette following her with a mischievous smile on its face. She had to stop and double check her reflection, only finding an empty spot next to her. No one was there. He wasn't there.

"Now's not the time to go nuts Alina." She whispered to herself in frustration.

It didn't take long to find a decent motel, but despite that, the sun was already setting down when she sent Sam the address and the room number of their temporary home. What she didn't tell him, was the fact that she'd taken a separate room for herself. She was definitely going to have a nightmare after that awful day, and couldn't take the risk of sleeping in the same room as her friends.

Unfortunately, sleeping alone also meant that she'd have to face the silence she hated so much. She couldn't stay there. If she wanted to be able to fall asleep in such disturbing silence, she would actually need a lot of help. The kind of help a human being couldn't give her.

She made sure that the boys hadn't arrived yet in their room next door, grabbed a few bucks from her wallet, and left the motel.

She entered the nearest bar with absolutely no intention of talking to anyone, and walked straight to the bar counter to order 3 shots of light rum. At first stupefied by the roughness of the attractive new client, the bartender quickly nodded and gave her the shots. She took the first one. Grimaced. Took the second. Sighed. But when she lifted the third to her mouth, a voice next to her grabbed her attention. "Wow easy there."

She turned, and recognized almost immediately the guy she'd met at the Copy Jack. He was wearing the same red opened flannel over his black shirt, but even though his dark hair were messier than before, the glasses on his nose still gave him that hot intellectual look that Alina loved so much. "Hey...Marvin?"

"Do you actually remember me or did you just guess that?"

"I do remember you, but I'll admit I'm still not sure that's your real name."

"Fair enough." He laughed and sat next to her. "It's Martin."

"Okay so I was close!"

"And you're Alina, right?"

She faked an annoyed pout and took the tiny glass back in her hand. "Fine, you win at the memory game. Martin." She drank the last shot of rum and looked back at him. "So what are you doing here Martin?"

And about thirty minutes later, she was savagely kissing him in a corner of the bar.

The rum was setting her entire body on fire, and every kisses that the handsome stranger placed on her skin drastically increased its temperature. She liked to slip her fingers in his hair, pulling them several times when his hands caressed her most sensitive areas. She'd ended up in this situation after what must have been her fifth shot, but did not want to escape it under any circumstances.

That was until a strong hand grabbed Martin's flannel and forcefully pulled him away from the young woman. She already knew it had to be one of the Winchesters, and was definitely not surprised to see Dean standing between the two of them, staring aggressively at the guy who had to be the same age and height as him. "What the hell you think you're doing with her?" He asked with his big impressive hunter voice. It was the kind of voice that informed the other person that he was always carrying a gun, even if he was perfectly able to send him to the nearest hospital with his bare hands.

"What do you think I was doing, man?" Martin replied, clearly unimpressed.

"Oh I think you were trying to get your ass kicked."

"Yeah? And who the hell are you? Her boyfriend?"

"No although he's definitely a pain in my ass." Alina intervened in an amused tone.

Dean took a closer look at her and sighed. "You've gotta be kidding me Frenchy! I worry like crazy when I don't see you in our room, only to find you completely wasted in the arms of a jerk?!"

"You guys are sleeping in the same room?" Martin suddenly asked, confused.

Alina shouted "No!" at the same time Dean was shouting "Yes!"

They both shared the same unamused look when they heard each other's answer.

"No!" Alina repeated with impatience. "We're not!"

"Of course we are! Where else would you sleep?!"

"In my own freaking room!"

"Wow, what?! You took a separate room?! What the hell Alina?!"

Again with the name. Alina sighed and looked away from him, already tired of this argument.

"Okay buddy." Martin finally said while putting a hand on Dean's shoulder from behind him. "I think you should leave us now."

If Alina hadn't drank so much, she would've been able to stop the punch before Dean even lifted his arm in the air. But she clearly didn't have the same reaction time as usual, because she saw his hand turning into a fist, and the next second Martin was holding his nose in pain. "Shit! Dean stop!"

But this time, she saw it before anyone else. Martin rushing towards Dean with angry eyes, ready for a fight. So she didn't even think when she jumped in front of her friend, grabbed Martin's wrist to make him turn on himself, fall on one knee with a quick kick behind his leg, than his whole body landed on the floor when she pushed his back with another kick. She did feel a little tipsy after that, and almost hit Dean too when he caught her just in time to stop her fall. "You okay?" He worriedly asked.

"Shut up." She grumbled as she walked away from him and the whining man on the ground.

Everyone in the bar was looking at her when she left the place and started to walk back to the motel angrily. That had been a complete disaster.

"Frenchy, wait!" Dean quickly caught up with her with a childish smile back on his face. "That was awesome! You've got a pretty decent balance when you're drunk."

"You've got a really big mouth when you're sober." She kept walking without looking at him.

"Hey you don't get to be mad here! Sam and I were worried about you! You can't just disappear in the middle of a job just to have sex with a total stranger in a stinky bar!"

"Dean I'm an adult! I can do whatever the fuck I wanna do! And clearly Sam understands that 'cause I don't see him trying to start a fight every time a man even dares to look at me!"

"I'm trying to protect you!"

At his words, she almost made him bump into her when she stopped in the middle of the street and turned around to meet his gaze. Enough was enough. "So you've never had sex with a girl in a stinky bar in the middle of a job?"

"I..." He couldn't find a good answer, because he knew he couldn't lie to her. "That's not the point."

"No I think it is! No matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, you'll always see me as the 17 year old girl who cried like a baby when her father didn't come back home!"

"Alina..." His gaze had softened at the sight of her hurtful expression.

"I'm not a teenager anymore Dean! It's not your freaking job to protect me!"

"I know..."

"I've been through some real messed up shits, and the fact that I'm still standing here in front of you, just proves you how strong, determined, and independent I can be!"

"Yeah I know that..." His frustration kept rising every time she wouldn't let him talk, so he had to do his best to contain it.

"And as a woman, I should be able to have sex whenever the fuck I want, with whoever the fuck I want! And if you still don't believe me, that'll shut your damn mouth Winchester!"

The whole world froze when she grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, and approached him to crush her lips against his. Dean, after two or three seconds of confusion that allowed Alina to push him back against the nearest wall, caught himself kissing her back when she pressed their bodies together. His hands, remained until now in the air, landed as if automatically on her hips to touch her a little more, while Alina was still holding on his jacket tightly, unable to let go of the taste of this bestial embrace.

But even though she wanted him to rip all of her clothes off, it only took a second of lucidity for her to put an end to the kiss reluctantly, the same moment Dean was also pushing her away from him. He couldn't do that, and hated himself for taking so much time to react.

Alina's face was on fire, and her heart was beating like she'd just ran an entire marathon in a such a short time. Had she really kissed Dean Winchester? Just to prove a stupid point on top of that? Her head was aching so she took a few more steps away from him and sighed. "Stupid Winchester..." And after whispering this words to the night, she simply turned around and left Dean behind to go back to the motel.

The young man was still panting from the kiss and couldn't seem to realize that it had really happened. And that he'd enjoyed it? Kissing Alina. Yeah he liked to jokingly flirt with her, and of course, she had to be the woman he cared the most about. But he would've never imagined that kissing her would feel so...not weird at all. Damn it felt amazing! What was wrong with him? She was drunk, she clearly hadn't meant to do that until she got mad at him and lost control of her body. But even though he was frustrated by her behavior, he was sober, and he could've pushed her away sooner. So why did it take him so long to do it? Why had he kissed her back?

THE NEXT DAY

Alina woke up surrounded by empty bottles of water on her bed. She didn't want to have a crazy hangover, so last night once she got back to her room, she'd threw up most of the alcohol in the toilets, and drank all the water she could get from the vending machine downstairs. She'd apparently succeeded in her task, since she wasn't feeling like complete shit when she finally opened her eyes, but she did almost faint when the memories of the previous night came back to her. The bar, Martin, Dean...

...

Dean!

She'd kissed Dean! It wasn't even like a cute and quick drunk kiss, it was like the full package kiss. She'd kissed Martin earlier the same night, and for much longer than Dean. But still, she probably had never kissed, or been kissed like that ever before.

"Putain! Je deviens folle!" (Fuck! I'm going crazy!) She shouted and threw her pillow across the room. "Alina espèce d'imbécile, de...Merde!" (Alina you imbecile, you...Shit!)

She was suddenly distracted by three knocks on her door. She hesitated at first, realizing after two seconds of silence that she was being irrational. Maybe it wasn't Dean, and even if it was him, why would she be embarrassed to open the door? She was drunk. This kind of things happened everyday to everyone. Besides, parts of it were still quite fuzzy for her. She just had to put on a big smile and pretend none of this mattered, because it really didn't. Right?

She jumped off her bed, ran to her door to unlock it, and without any surprise, found the two Winchesters on the other side. Sam was right in front of her with coffee and pastries like the ones they'd get the day before. "Thought you might be hungry." Sam declared as he entered the room without any warning.

"I'm starving!" She answered with a shy laugh before looking back at Dean in the hallway.

He instantly smiled, but it was definitely the 'None of this matters' kind of smile. He noticed the exact same one on Alina's face, so he decided to clear his throat and put on a more serious expression. "So...how do you feel?"

"Great. I'm great. You know I...drank a lot of water, had a good night of sleep..."

"That's great."

"Right? It is. Yeah..."

The uncomfortable silence came back after that, and they were taking so long at the door that Sam had to come back, and frowned at their weird attitude. Dean was still standing in the middle of the hallway, and Alina was holding the doorknob with so much strength that it almost felt like she could break it in a single motion. "What's wrong with you two?"

"Nothing." Alina replied instantly, at the same time Dean said "She kissed me last night."

The two friends shared the same confused look. Alina had decided not to say anything because she didn't want to make the atmosphere even more awkward. And Dean had revealed the truth automatically, because he thought Alina wouldn't want to keep that kind of secret from Sam, whose jaw dropped at his brother's words. "Wait, what?" At this point, he was still hoping he'd just misheard.

"I kissed him last night." Alina admitted when Dean chose to take her side from the previous round with a simple "Nothing."

Now they were as confused as Sam. Alina looked between the brothers, feeling her blood starting to boil slowly, until it reached the point of no return. "Okay that's it. Dean get inside. Sam sit down. Now!"

They obeyed, not wanting to see her angrier than she already was. Dean entered the room, closing the door behind him, and Sam went to sit on the bed with curious eyes that were asking his friend thousands of different questions.

"So elephant in the room, yes, I kissed Dean last night. I was wasted, and frustrated...and angry! Because I was just enjoying the night with this handsome guy at the bar, when Dean came out of nowhere, punched him, and forced me to kick his ass so he wouldn't hurt him back."

"Okay, that douchebag wasn't that handsome." Dean protested like a child.

"Oh my God, Dean! Are you serious right now?! What you're saying is exactly part of the problem that got us in that weird situation in the first place!"

They started to argue again, both at the same time, making the conversation impossible for Sam to understand. "Okay stop! Enough!"

They stopped talking when Sam yelled at them, like two children being scolded by their parents. "I didn't get all the details, but it seems to me that...the kiss, didn't mean anything, right?"

"Obviously." Alina and Dean said in chorus, finally back in sync. They were now able to look at each other without wanting to scream or runaway.

Alina smiled. "Okay Winchester. If you promise to never interfere in my love and sex life ever again, I promise I'll never kiss you again. And my drunk self is actually pretty good at keeping promises."

Dean scoffed and nodded. "Yeah, I've seen you fight last night. You really can defend yourself so, I guess I'll stop being overprotective."

They smiled at each other, happy to be back in good terms. Alina couldn't imagine a world where Dean wasn't one of her closest friend. She needed him. Just as mush as she needed Sam. Which reminded her that...

"Well I guess now I can brag about the fact that I've kissed both Winchesters brothers."

"Wow!" Dean reacted as soon as the information got to his brain. "What do you mean you kissed both of us? You kissed Sam? When? Why? Where?"

Sam sighed again at the absurd reveal. "Really Alina? Don't make it sound like it was the same kind of kiss, it lasted less than two seconds."

"Okay, so how about you don't make it sound like Dean and I just licked each other's faces in a dark alley for hours?"

Dean was losing his temper at their silence. "Oh hell no! You can't say that and then completely avoid the fact that I'm in this room too! How could you even think about kissing Sam before me?!"

Alina was fascinated by his sense of priorities. He wasn't mad because she'd kissed him, or Sam. It was because she'd kissed Sam first. "We were 16, Dean. Just chill out."

"It was the first time she got drunk." Sam informed Dean, and Alina at the same time. She'd forgot about that fact, and the realization hit her like a big hammer.

"Wait, you're right! Shit! I guess alcohol makes me wanna kiss any Winchester in the area. Well...once we find your dad, do not let me drink around him!"

Alina laughed at Sam's horrified face.

Dean was actually trying not to hide his disappointment, because he himself found it stupid. He couldn't be offended to learn that Alina had really kissed him in the heat of the moment.

And Alina couldn't admit to herself that kissing Dean had been a completely different experience than kissing any other man before him. With Dean it felt so passionate, breathtaking, it was like discovering a new way of kissing. But she could've been hallucinating, since she was drunk and tired. Maybe she'd idealized that kiss. It had to be that.

"Okay so let's go back to our case." Alina changed the subject, knowing she would try to avoid talking about this particular job if they didn't do it now. "Did you get anything useful from the suspect's family?"

Sam gave her a cup of coffee. "Not really."

"Yeah, the guy was just a middle-aged dentist with an ulcer."

Alina wanted to ask about their surprising knowledge of the ulcer thing, but also had to stay serious and focused.

"So..." Sam hesitated. "Do you know what we're fighting against here?"

Dean looked at her with the same curious eyes, both silently waiting for her answer.

The young woman bit her lips in apprehension. She'd thought about it the night before when she was heading towards the bar. There was still the possibility that Max Jaffey hadn't been completely honest with them, or that he was just in shock from the crash. But since it was more than likely that he was right, they first needed to investigate a little more to find a proof. She needed to stay professional until then.

"Yeah I think I know what it is. But I think it would be wiser to go check out the wreckage first, right?"

The brothers shared the same impatient look, but decided that if Alina needed time to talk to them, they would do everything to give her some. Although knowing she'd been so upset by Mr. Jaffey's words, that she'd not hesitated to lose herself in alcohol, wasn't reassuring for her friends. They had to find out what was wrong with her, and for that, they had to do their job.

So later that day, Alina was leaning on the side of the Impala, wearing a formal black pantsuit that managed to match each of her curves with perfection. She wore with ease the femme fatale style, with her hair tied in a high ponytail, and she loved the scarlet lipstick she'd bought for the occasion. She just enjoyed this part of her job that allowed her to dress up, and did not regret the confidence this outfit was giving her.

She'd been waiting in front of the suit rental shop for a while, when finally she saw Sam and Dean walking out of it, wearing crisp black suits, with white shirts. They looked really handsome, and Alina couldn't help but smile at her friends.

"Man, I look like one of the Blues Brothers." She heard Dean complain.

"No, you don't. You look more like a...seventh-grader at his first dance." Sam mocked him.

The youngest was the first one to notice Alina's presence, and quickly smiled at her, hitting his brother's arm to make him look up at her. When Dean's eyes landed on Alina, he had to fight against every fiber of his body to prevent it from stopping in shock. He was now used to see her in jeans and leather jackets, and she already looked hot in those, but this outfit made her look like the sexy professional co-worker fantasy that no men could get in their bed.

Alina noticed the way Dean was checking her out, but seeing him wearing this black suit didn't help her to sound as sassy as usual. "Looking sharp Winchester. If I hadn't already kissed you last night, I would be completely all over you right now."

"Yeah? What's stopping you?" He joked back with his seductive grin.

"Oh I wouldn't wanna ruin your suit."

"I wouldn't mind ruining yours, Frenchy."

"Come on guys!" Sam sighed next to them. "You couldn't even look in each others eyes earlier and you're already back to the flirting?"

Alina did find it surprising too. But she was also relieved she was still able to act naturally with Dean. Not flirting, probably would have made things more awkward for the two of them.

"Really Sammy? You kissed her first."

"That was six years ago dude, get over it."

"Okay time out guys." Alina stopped them with a playful smile. "You don't have to turn this whole kissing thing into an unnecessary love triangle. I've got enough love and kisses for you both."

She kept smiling proudly when they simply shook their heads and got inside the car.

"I hate this thing." Dean repeated as he looked down at himself.

"Hey. You want into that warehouse or not?"

Alina joined them, and it didn't take too long for them to find the warehouse. As expected the security wasn't that heavy, so thanks to the convincing fake IDs, and the formal clothes, they only had to play their part with confidence to get access to the wreckage. They split up once they got inside, leaving Alina wandering alone around the big machine. She took a look around, searching for anything suspicious until she reached a reflective table. She was looking at the pieces of the plane on top of it, when she once again noticed the familiar smiling face in the reflection, right behind her. She quickly turned around, and saw nothing but the giant wreckage. She checked the table again, and the face was now gone. Her mind was playing games with her. She had to focus on this case.

Soon enough, she heard the sound of an EMF meter spike on the other side of the wreckage, and went to meet with the brothers. Dean was holding the strange device in his hand. "Wait, is that an EMF meter? Why does it look like a busted-up walkman?" Alina asked.

Dean looked away, clearly upset by the question, so Sam replied in his favorite mocking tone. "Because that's what he made it out of. It's his homemade EMF meter."

Alina looked at Sam, then at Dean, then at the device, and her eyes suddenly lighted up in amazement. "Wait, for real? That's so cool!"

Dean stared at her in disbelief, trying to figure out if she was just messing with him or if that was her genuine reaction. "It is?"

"You took a freaking walkman and turned it into something that can read electromagnetic frequencies! That's impressive Winchester!"

A big grin appeared on the face of the eldest, and he proudly turned to his brother who still looked unfazed by his work. He then glanced back at the young woman, wanting to thank her for the recognition, but she was already inspecting the piece of wreckage in front of them. The brothers got their seriousness back, and took a closer look at it too.

"That's the emergency door handle." Dean said, scratching some of the yellow dust on it and getting some on his hand. "What is this stuff?" He asked as he sniffed the powder on his fingers.

"One way to find out." Sam declared before putting a small bag under the handle to collect some of the dust.

However, Alina had already figured it out and pushed his hands away. "You don't have to do that. I know what this is."

And before she could share her knowledge with them, they heard voices outside that could only indicate one thing, they had to get out.

They found another exit on the opposite side of the warehouse, and discreetly walked out. The hunters first tried walking casually to avoid looking suspicious, but when the security alarm started to blare, they quickly ran to the gated exit. Dean pulled off his suit jacket, threw it over the barbed wire at the top of the fence, and intended to help Alina climb over, but the moment he turned to her she was already jumping to the top, landing behind the fence with Sam. Dean smiled at that, climbed over too, and grabbed his jacket from the other side. "Well, these monkey suits do come in handy."

And then they were gone, driving away in the Impala to get back to the motel, where Alina already knew she'd have to tell them everything.

Right...so...yeah...

Well this doesn't really count as their first kiss because she was drunk, but Dean's perspective after this will definitely start to change, without him noticing it.

I just wanted to show how both their characters could be similar, being impulsives enough to do something like that out of anger and frustration, still being able to stop themselves from going too far, then keep acting like it wasn't a big deal even though it was.

So anyway, I hope you liked part 1, and you'll finally learn about Alina's traumatic experience with her friend Chris in part 2!

Have a good night/day guys!