A/N: This one is quite a bit longer than the others - I started rambling through the feelings of the characters and once the flood gates opened they just wouldn't shut up. Hope you like!

There But For Grace

Chapter Six

Episode 6 – Skin

Grace stretched to her full height, reaching her arms up above her head as she took in the gas station they had stopped in. They had been in the car without a break for about six hours and, unusually, she had been awake for every one of them. Awake and quite bored.

"Alright, I figure we'd hit Tucumcari by lunch, then head south, hit Bisbee by midnight."

Grace nodded as she passed Dean on her way to the shop door, mind on what food se was going to get. He wasn't looking at her though. His attention was fixed on Sam, who, in turn, had his attention fixed on his blackberry. Dean considered him for a moment.

"Sam wears women's underwear."

Grace laughed as she went into the gas station shop and heard Sam reply, "I've been listening, I'm just busy."

Displayed on the shelves were the usual garish collection of candy and chips. She sighed, once it would be nice to eat something that didn't make the inside of your mouth shrivel up with the excessive content of either sugar or salt. Making a slow tour of the shop, but with little hope of finding anything particularly appealing, Grace pulled out her phone and began flipping it open and shut.

She knew what Sam was busy with, he had been checking and replying to his emails for a lot of the trip. Seeing him do it and connect with people outside their tight knit group of three, four with the ever-present ghost of John, reminded Grace of people she had left behind. Not really anyone that important, the guy who thought that they were only seeing each other casually but who, in reality, Grace saw nearly every day she was awake, a couple of colleagues from the bar she had been working at and a school friend that had tenaciously kept in touch for the past five years since high school had ended.

Perhaps Kelly was important though. Grace had always been one of those girls who scared the guys at school. Some sort of intimidating mystery attached to her that made them not want to make the effort. For the most part, it hadn't bothered her. She got on well enough with most of the people in her class on a superficial level and Kelly was there to sit with at lunch, to walk home with and to ask questions about homework. Kelly was probably the person she had spent most of her time with growing up and when high school had finished, Grace had up and left with the briefest of brief goodbyes and with little thought about keeping in touch.

Kelly had apparently had other plans, however. She had been a good girl, studious, getting into a top college and having the most fantastic time for five years before graduating with adequate if not flying colors. It was hard to achieve "proper" college experiences and flying colors at the same time. Now she was working in the city and dating a boy she had met in her final year, slightly older and with a steady income.

Or she had been the latest report Grace had received. These bulletins were mostly delivered into her voice mail and, little though she sought them, she enjoyed hearing what Kelly was up to in her normal life.

Finally, picking a granola bar, some salted potato chips, peanut m&ms and a bottle of water, Grace made her way to the counter. As she waited for the guy to ring up the groceries, she tried to signal to Dean and Sam out of the window, the thought just having occurred to her that they might want something. They appeared to be in deep conversation, however, and, by dint of adding a bar of chocolate to her pile of food, she thought she could probably share.

Leaving the shop, she flicked her phone open once more. Dean was still filling up the car, and talking earnestly to Sam, so she thought she had a couple of minutes. Scrolling through her meager contacts list, she paused on Kelly. Her thumb hovered over the call button for a moment, before frustration at herself set in and she punched down, holding the phone up to her ear as it rang a couple of times before going to answer phone.

The sound of Kelly's voice on the answer phone message surprised her for some reason, and she was silent for longer than she should have been, a couple of seconds after the beep. Finally she took a breath and began to speak.

"Oh. Hi, Kelly. It's – it's Grace," She paused and took another breath, not really sure what she wanted to say. "Um, I suddenly realized I hadn't heard from you in a while and just – just thought I'd give you a call. Nothing urgent, just wanted to see how you're doing. Anyway – um, call me. Bye."

Sighing, she hung up. She knew she hadn't exactly sounded enthusiastic. She was tired, again, frustrated from being in the car so long and still not sure that she had done the right thing by calling her old friend. Perhaps Kelly hadn't phoned her in a long time for a reason, perhaps she was finally sick of doing all the leg work in their friendship.

Sighing again, Grace closed her phone and tucked it in her pocket, walking towards the car. She walked up just in time to hear Sam state firmly,

"They're in St Louis. We're going."

Dean laughed disbelievingly. "Look, sorry 'bout your buddy, okay? But this does not sound like our kind of problem." He clearly didn't comprehend Sam's need to go.

Grace tossed the carrier bag into the back seat and followed it into the car. She moved forward on the seat to look over Sam's shoulder.

"It is our problem!" Sam protested. "They're my friends."

Dean shook his head and went to take the pump out of the car.

"St. Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Sam."

Sam didn't reply, merely stared at his brother until Dean sighed heavily and caved. Swinging his legs into the car, Sam slammed his door and moments later Dean was in the car as well, and turning out of the gas station.

"What's in St. Louis?" Grace asked as they got going.

"Old friend of mine," Sam replied, passing his blackberry, with the relevant email open on it, back to her.

Grace's eyebrows rose slowly as she read the email. When she finished she passed it back to Sam.

"I take it you agree with Becky, it wasn't this guy who murdered his girlfriend?"

"Definitely not."

"Ok."

Feeling that the discussion was settled, Grace lent back and began to dig through her bag of food.

"That's it?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow at her in the rearview mirror.

"What's it?" she asked, not looking up.

"You just take Sammy's word for it like that?"

"Yeah, why not?" Grace glanced up to see Dean opening his mouth to make another observation. Forestalling him, she chucked the bag of peanut m&ms she had bought into his lap. "Here, have some candy and stop being so grumpy."

He frowned at her, but didn't say anything else. As the silence grew, Grace saw Sam's shoulders relax slightly. He had enough to think about without Dean trying to antagonize either of them.

Dean kept his attention stubbornly on the road for about five minutes before he reached down and opened the packet of m&ms. Seeing him do it, Sam and Grace exchanged a small smile.

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They weren't even half way to St Louis when Grace's phone rang. It was an unusual enough occurrence for both the brothers to take note, but Grace answered it without bothering to check the caller id.

"Hello?"

"Grace?" came an uncertain voice from the other end.

"Yep," Grace agreed, her concentration still on the crossword they had been working on together, Dean far more of a hindrance than a help.

"Hi, it's – this is Kelly."

Grace let her pen fall and struggled to sit upright on her seat before replying. "Kelly. Wow, hi, how are you?"

It was the first time they had actually talked to each other, heard the other's voice at the other end of the line, in months, possibly a year, and Grace was working hard not to feel or sound completely awkward and socially backward. Dean and Sam exchanged glances in the front seat, silently asking the other whether they had heard of someone called Kelly.

"I'm good, I'm good. How about you? Everything going ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine."

They were both repeating themselves a lot. Kelly was the first to voice the strangeness of the situation.

"This is – weird, huh?"

"Definitely weird," Grace agreed, relaxing slightly and leaning back into the seat. "Where are you? Still in Chicago?"

"Yep, still here, slogging away."

"And still with Jack?" Grace prompted.

"Yes, very much," There was a brief pause and Kelly took a breath. "Actually, we're engaged!"

Grace squealed. A real, live, high-pitched squeal that sent Dean swerving slightly across the road and caused both men to send her horrified looks.

"Oh my god, congratulations!" Grace exclaimed down the phone, ignoring the stares of the two in the front. "How long for?"

"It's only been a couple of weeks and the wedding's not going to be for a while. We're going to live together for a bit first."

Grace was nodding down the phone, making agreeing noises. "Well, that's fantastic, Kel," the nickname slipped from Grace's tongue without her registering it. "I hope you're both really happy."

"I think we will be," Kelly replied, her broad smile audible. "But what about you? You're still in ­­Montana?"

"Er, no, I'm not," Grace finally glanced towards the front seat, just in time to surprise both Sam and Dean looking at her. She raised her eyebrows and they both glanced hurriedly away. "I'm actually on a sort of – road trip, with some friends of mine."

Grace frowned as Kelly asked a question.

"Um, no, you don't know them." There was a pause as Kelly clearly tried to tease some information out of her. "Sam and Dean. I know their Dad."

The last comment earned her another look from the boys, what on earth did it have to do with knowing their Dad? Grace studiously avoided their eyes. She smiled at whatever Kelly had said.

"Yeah, they are actually adults," she flicked her eyes to the back of Dean's head. "Though, sometimes…" she trailed off suggestively and laughed at Kelly's response.

Sam had given up all pretence and was screwed around in his seat watching her curiously and Dean was staring at her in the rear view mirror a little more than was strictly safe when the car was in motion. He flicked his eyes up once more, in time to see color rise high in her cheeks.

"No, Kelly," Grace admonished gently. "Seriously, no." A slight pause. "Because that would be weird. And wrong." Grace ran a hand over her face. "Ha ha. Actually, Kel," she had looked up to find both boys staring at her with complete lack of subtlety. "Now's not really a good time to talk. Can I call you back sometime? Ok, yeah, that'd be great. Talk to you soon. Yeah, bye."

Grace flipped her phone shut and stared down at it for a moment before summoning the courage to look up.

"What?" she demanded.

"Nothing," Dean replied, turning his gaze back to the road but clearly not his attention.

"Nice phone call?" Sam asked, eyes wide.

"Yes," Grace replied shortly, narrowing her own eyes in response.

"Good. Who was it?"

"My friend, Kelly," she ground out, scowling at him.

"That, we gathered," Dean informed her, glancing in the mirror again. "Did she have anything interesting to say?"

"Plenty."

There was a long pause as both brothers waited for more details and Grace remained steadfastly silent.

"And?" Dean finally asked, impatiently.

"And nothing." Grace told him impatiently. "We were just catching up."

"Huh." Was all he said, regarding her inscrutably for a few moments. When he finally tore his gaze away, Grace shifted her eyes to Sam. He gave her a fleeting, innocent half smile before turning around in his seat and facing the front again.

Grace crossed her arms and huffed out a breath. They were going to make this awkward, she knew it. There would be Sam's solicitous enquiries as to how Kelly was even though he had never met her and Dean's suggestions of what they could talk about and teasing offers to stop to let Grace out so they could have a proper long girly conversation without being over heard.

Underneath it all though, she wouldn't be surprised if they were worried. Dean especially.

Sam would understand what it was like to have friends outside the job and how important they were. His willingness to try and help Becky and her brother were proof of this. Even though Grace wasn't exactly a proper hunter, Kelly didn't know anything about her life anymore.

Dean didn't understand that. He was close to very few people, and half the time Grace wouldn't count herself as one of them. He knew that people who found out about hunting either didn't believe them and that hurt, or they got hurt because of the job. Innocent people hurt only because they were connected to the Winchesters in some way. Their Mom and Jess were proof enough of that.

At the back of his mind, and occasionally nearer the forefront of it, he saw Grace as deeply vulnerable. Under his father's orders, he had tried to teach her how to defend herself and the basic lore of supernatural beings. But even though she could know handle a gun or a knife, could stave of an attacker for a limited time with her bare hands and knew a certain amount about protecting oneself from evil beings, she still didn't know enough. And she wasn't strong enough, not able enough to protect herself properly, and that made her vulnerable and a target. And all of this was before he even considered the fact she could sleep through an entire attack without once stirring.

Emotionally… well he didn't want to have to see her emotions put through the test of losing someone. Didn't want to see what it might do to her.

Sometimes Dean had to remind himself that he hadn't actually known Grace all that long. Had to remember that he didn't actually know all that much about her. She had become so much a part of his world, the small unit that he counted as family, that he couldn't think of her not being there any more. It wasn't the same way that he missed his Dad or feared losing Sam; for starters Grace was barely ever awake. But there was something about her presence that felt right and that he needed, that Sam needed as well now.

The sudden knowledge that Grace had a friend, or possibly friends, beyond them that she cared about came as a bit shock. And on top of the fact that they were speeding to the rescue of one of Sam's old friends – Dean found that hard to deal with.

By the time he had realized this, however, and decided that, while he had no wish whatsoever to actually confront the problem head on, he did want to say something, anything, Grace was asleep. Dean flicked his gaze from the road, to look at her in his mirror, and saw that her eyes were closed, her head drooping to one side. He sighed. By the time she woke up the moment would have definitely passed, but maybe that was a good thing. He didn't know.

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Grace didn't wake up before Dean had become the main suspect in a murder case and apparently been killed. It was lucky that she had got in contact with the boys before she had seen the news.

She only saw Becky from afar, looking through the windows of the Impala as Sam hugged her goodbye. She looked nice, normal, but laden with the fresh knowledge of what it was that Sam and Dean did – the knowledge that there was something out there in the dark, something evil and vicious.

At this point it had been to late for Dean to say anything about Kelly and he didn't have a clue what he would say if given the chance, so settled for silence.

If Grace was surprised that neither of them mentioned the conversation again she didn't show it, but she did keep in better touch with Kelly than before. It was nice to have someone to talk to, even if it was someone who could never know the truth and who teased her mercilessly for traveling the country with two good looking, single men.

A/N: Please let me know what you think! :)