Oh shit. These guys are truly crazy. And they're standing between me and my phone. Veronica thought as Dean stopped talking. Her cellphone was in her room. She had five people on speed dial who could help her out of this situation- Deputy Leo, with his hand cuffs and official authority would be best, Weevil with his less official but more persuasive methods would be a close second- but for all the good it did her, she might as well be alone in the desert with religious fanatics.
"Okay." She said carefully, managing a strained grin and backing up a step or two. "You guys have seen one too many horror movies." Oh sure, Veronica. Poke the crazy, because that will help. "My dad is sick, not… possessed."
"We don't think he's possessed." Dean said defensively. "Demons don't-" She kept backing away from them, a little at a time.
"I didn't tell you that I'm being watched." She said, thinking fast. "Deputy Leo checks on me all the time." Sam stepped around Dean and slowly advanced to Veronica.
"Veronica, listen." He said, his voice low and soothing. "I know it's sort of crazy- I would think it's crazy too- but… didn't you used to see Lily after she died? Didn't you say you felt like she was helping you find out what happened to her?" an expression of pain passed over Veronica's face at the mention of Lily, and then her eyes flashed angrily at Sam. She'd said that stupid crap for Keith's book, to make it more interesting. She didn't believe it, did she? She glared up at him.
"You- Lily- That was just in my head!" She said, her voice shrill. "It was- Lily wasn't-" She stopped, still glaring at Sam. Dean pressed his lips together and stared at the back of Sam's head for a moment. Sam could feel him thinking good job, Sammy, way to calm her down at him. Sam glanced at Dean, who stepped towards Veronica.
"Sam's not saying she was haunting you. But you and Lily, you had a connection. You thought she was helping you." Dean said. "Whatever gets you through the night, right? I know you think we're crazy, and we'll leave you alone if you think that's best. But if even a small part of you thinks that it really was Lily helping you find her killer, let us help. Because we think something bad, our kind of bad, happened to your dad." Dean caught her eyes and held them. There was simple truth there; he believed what he was saying one hundred percent. But didn't crazy people always believe their own crazy rants? She looked to Sam, who nodded slightly at her, to reassure her that they wouldn't move until she said it was okay.
She turned Dean's words over in her mind. Did she think Lily had really helped her? At the time, she'd thought… everything. That it was Lily's ghost or spirit or echo or whatever that she was seeing. After Aaron Echolls was in prison, if she thought about it at all, she just thought it was her overwrought emotional state. She still missed Lily, she'd miss Lily forever, but that first year after Lily's death had been unbearable. Keith getting voted out of office, Lianne leaving them, all her so-called friends turning on her, suddenly becoming the pariah of Neptune High, all of that had put her in an emotional state she had struggled to cope with. Was it any wonder that she'd thought she saw Lily? Or talked to her in dreams sometimes? It was a coping mechanism.
And then she remembered the day of the bus crash. That store on the PCH. She'd been going to get back on the bus when she thought she heard Lily whispering to her and laughing, thought she saw Lily run around a corner. She'd followed the image, and ended up not being on the bus that crashed minutes later. The fallout that had followed the bus crash hadn't left her with time to consider what had happened that day, and life had kept moving forward, one crisis or event after another, so she'd never really considered it. But she was now. Looking from Dean's green eyes to Sam's brown ones, without her knowing, her hand went to the small chain and charm necklace that Lily had given her back when life still made some sort of sense. Sam's eyes followed her hand and she realized what he was looking at.
"Lily gave me this." She said, her voice thick with emotion. He nodded.
"Sometimes when you lose someone, they stay with you." Sam said. "Not to hurt you. Just to remind you. And when it's time for them to go, they go." He paused. "I lost someone once, and I used to see her sometimes. Her name was Jess. But she's gone now." Veronica nodded, but Dean turned to look at Sam for a long moment. He'd never told him about seeing Jess. Maybe it was some of that freaky psychic stuff. Sam avoided looking at Dean, didn't want to deal with that right now.
"So, what are we doing, Veronica? Are we leaving?" Dean asked finally. Veronica slowly let go of Lily's necklace.
"Stay." She said, and paused. "Help me." Her eyes met Dean's as she said it, and he understood completely how much it cost her to say those two small words. He didn't smile, but his eyes softened and she took a deep breath, composing herself. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to relax, to think like she was working.
"Okay. You found powder, which means… what?" She said. Sam and Dean also relaxed a little. Sam tilted his head a little, thinking.
"It's not sulphur. That's good, it means it's not demons." He said. She tried to process that. Demons. "This stuff, I think it's herbal, which means witches." Dean let out a low groan now that Sam had said it out loud. He hated witches.
"Awesome." Dean muttered. Sam, annoyed, pushed Dean's shoulder. Dean pushed right back. His little brother wasn't going to push him around. Sam shoved him a little harder and Dean turned to him. "Dude." He said, in a warning tone. Sam was wearing his bitchface again, Veronica forgotten for a moment.
"It's not my fault it's witches, Dean." Sam said in a tone of aggravation.
"Can you save the lover's spat until my dad is better?" Veronica said. Dean looked crestfallen, and Sam laughed in his face.
"We're not-" Dean protested, but Sam talked over him.
"Witches use powders in hexes and spells. Maybe your dad was hexed." Sam said, returning to Veronica. "I can't tell what it all is, but there's definitely hemlock. I can smell it." Dean looked thoughtfully at his fingers. Hemlock was used to kill. Veronica had said her dad was stable but critical. Critical made sense, but stable didn't. And it was taking too long; a hex should be quick, not dragged out like this. He looked at Sam and could almost hear the thought process. Keith should be dead by now, but wasn't. And a proper hex was usually executed with a hex bag, a lot of ingredients mixed together to make a powerful spell. This wasn't adding up. They thought of Bobby at the same time; he'd know what they were missing.
"Look, we need to think about this some more." Dean said to Veronica. "Something's not right."
"More not right than demons and monsters and witches?" She asked, smiling a little. It was weird hearing herself take it so seriously.
"Yeah. Is there a motel in town where we can, you know, hole up for a few hours? We have to check some things out. We'll get back to you, I promise." Dean said, ignoring Sam's sharp look at the word "promise". It was a touchy word between them right now.
"There's the Camelot." Veronica said. "But it's… it's not the kind of place you want to stay. It's cheap and-" Dean's eyes lit up at the mention of a cheap motel.
"Do they have Magic Fingers?"
A couple hours later, Sam was frustrated with researching. He'd found spells that used hemlock, and they all killed. Bobby had told him that hemlock was used in killing spells. It was bad mojo. So why wasn't Keith dead? And why wasn't the hemlock in a hex bag with a bunch of other stuff? And what kind of witch dusted powder in their enemy's home? Most witches he'd encountered used symbols or hex bags, not naked powder. He looked up from his laptop as Dean came into the motel room, carrying paper bags of food. He shot Sam an aggrieved look.
"California blows. There's no food here." He complained. "I went to get a burger, they asked me if I wanted it wrapped in lettuce. And it's too sunny here. It's not natural, Sammy." Dean said, sprawling on the bed. There was only one bed in the room, and apparently Dean had claimed it. "No wonder you eat all that rabbit food, four years in California ruined you."
"People like to eat healthy here." Sam said absently. He was watching Dean eat a burger, and wondering how many more burgers Dean would get to eat. A year's worth seemed like a lot, but also like not enough. And that was all Dean would get. A year's worth of everything, and that was all. And then what? An eternity in hell. Sam had been trying not to think about what that might mean, but he was tired and couldn't keep the rush of speculation at bay anymore. And the worst thing was that he knew that whatever horror his mind could come up with, whatever tortures he could imagine, hell would be a million times worse. He was angry at Dean for doing this to both of them. How was he supposed to live knowing Dean was being ripped apart in hell while he went about business as usual? And where would he find the heart to go on? Losing John had been bad enough, but at least he'd still had Dean. He had a lifetime of memories of an absent John, but he also had a lifetime of memories of Dean being there. Dean teaching him stuff, like how to drive and how to talk to girls. Dean telling him not to be afraid. Dean annoying him, picking on him, but always loving him. It was Dean's praise that had mattered to him, and the night he'd left for Stanford his heart had broken at leaving his brother. He'd made his own life, but he'd known Dean was out there in the world. Killing things, keeping the world safe for everybody the way he'd always kept it safe for Sam. There was comfort in that. He could live his life away from Dean, knowing Dean was out there in the night being Dean. There would be no comfort in knowing that Dean was in hell, especially since he was going to hell because of Sam.
"Sammy." Dean said, reaching for the second bag of food. He saw Sam watching him, the speculation in his eyes, and the mask of a cocky grin fell over Dean's face. "You gonna stare at me all day or are you gonna eat?"
"Dean-" Sam started, but Dean cut him off.
"Eat, Sammy." Dean ordered him. Sam let it go. But we're going to have to talk about it sometime, Sam thought. You can't just go to hell without a word about it to me. I won't let you. They finished eating in silence. Dean didn't want to talk to Sam when he was all moody and emotional. What was wrong with the kid, anyway? He was being unreasonable. So what if he was going to hell? It was his soul and he could do whatever he liked with it. And what he liked was Sam alive. He could face an eternity of hellfire if he knew Sammy was okay.
A knock at the door interrupted their silence. Dean nodded to Sam, who cautiously opened the door. Veronica was on the other side. She slipped in the door past Sam. The atmosphere was thick with unsaid things. She looked from one to the other but decided not to ask. She had her own problems without getting tangled up in theirs.
"so…" She said, feeling awkward. Dean let a slow, suggestive grin spread over his face as her eyes met his. There was enough space on the bed for her to crawl in next to him. She almost smiled back at him, but focused on Sam instead. Focus, Veronica. Work first, play later. "How's the researching?"
"Frustrating." Sam answered, his eyes shooting to Dean. Dean met his look with a cocky grin. Sam sighed. Veronica rolled her eyes.
"Shut up." Dean murmured in Sam's direction. "Bitch."
"Jerk." Sam answered, the word coming automatically. The tension in the room eased after the familiar exchange. Sam even half smiled at Dean. Dean tilted his head forward, not quite smiling but almost there, and that was the end of it. Veronica was still amazed at how they silently communicated like that. It was… uncanny.
"So I checked out which stores sell hemlock around here." She said, diving right into the case. "There's a couple new-agey ones that do. So I cross referenced the purchase lists-"
"You can do that?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. It's part of being an investigator." She said. Sam nodded, impressed. "I cross referenced purchase lists with people I know hate my dad or me, and came up with two names: Vinnie van Lowe and Madison Sinclair." She paused. Sam and Dean exchanged a look, and Dean asked her which one she thought it was. A bitter smile pulled up the corners of her mouth. "If there's a witch in Neptune, Madison would be it." She said with an irony the brothers didn't understand. Dean shrugged.
"All right. Should we go check her out?" Dean said, itching to get out of the motel room. There were suddenly too many feelings in here, Sammy's and Veronica's. He grinned at Veronica. "We can take my car. You can meet my Baby." The note of pride in his voice surprised her, she hadn't pegged him as the sports-car driving kind. In her experience, sports car drivers drove shiny cars with stupid names like Baby and Princess, and were seriously over compensating for some enormous short comings.
"It'll be faster if we take one car." Sam told her. Dean jumped off the bed and grabbed his keys, leading the way out. He didn't look back to see if Sam was following him, he knew Sam would be only a few steps behind him. They were on the hunt, he knew Sammy had his back. Veronica followed too, and wondered if she and Keith were like that sometimes when they worked together: so completely sure of each other that they didn't need to check where the other was.
"look, he's a little weird about the car." Sam murmured to her as they entered the parking lot. "I'm sorry about him, okay?" She nodded, thinking she understood. A guy in love with a shiny metaphor for his penis, how original. But when she saw Dean leaning against the Impala and watching her, her pulse slowed down, and then started racing. It definitely wasn't one of Neptune's gaudy mid-life crisis cars. It was a beautiful machine, well maintained with gorgeous lines. Classic American muscle. Of course this is what he drives, she thought, because a guy like Dean didn't belong in a modern sports car. A bright yellow Hummer wasn't his style either. This gorgeous gleaming machine had Dean written all over it. When she got close enough, she ran her fingers lightly over the hood and down the side until she reached where Dean was standing. He watched her hand caress his car and then slowly met her eyes. Hers were full of lust for him, for the car, for the open road. He grinned at her and she smiled back. Sam watched them, and knew he would be sleeping alone that night.
"this is your Baby?" She asked Dean.
"This is my Baby."
"She's gorgeous."
"She sure is." He didn't take his eyes off her. For a moment she was lost in their green intensity, and she knew without a doubt that she get in this car and drive away with him, no regrets. Without knowing anything about him, she could leave Neptune with him and never look back. If he asked her now, if the promises he was making with his eyes and his smile were fulfilled, she could be his forever.
His forever? Come on, Veronica, what are you, a doe-eyed school girl? Her inner voice jeered at her. You don't even know him. She tore her eyes away from him, realized she was still touching the car, and took her hand away too. For a moment she looked like an awkward, uncertain girl. Dean felt something rising in his chest, a desire to hold her and make it okay for her. A moment ago he'd wanted something very different, he'd wanted to feel his lips on hers and her small body close to his, bury his hands in her hair and let her hands slid over his chest and downwards- the same kind of lust he felt for all pretty girls everywhere- but this new feeling was something else. I could care about her, he thought, and the idea was strange to him. A girl, a stranger, not even a hunter, could be vital to him. He shook his head at the impossible thought.
Sam saw the moment had passed and they were both retreating. The familiar cocky Dean grin was affixing itself to his brother's face, and Veronica's face was becoming unreadable. Idiots, he thought as he leaned against the passenger side door.
"I told you he was weird about the car." Sam said. Veronica turned her head towards Sam so she wouldn't have to look at Dean. She managed a smile, and Sam wondered if Dean would recognize his own sarcastic smile on her face.
"I don't know, Sam, it's a nice car." She said in a small voice. "Maybe you could take me for a ride some time. After we help my dad." She was refocusing, putting Dean aside. Dean gave a nod, understanding. What she wanted wasn't as important as her obligations; he knew what that was about. But he wouldn't let her get away so easily. He reached out and put his hand on her cheek. She froze, and then slowly turned to look at him again. Their eyes met again in a passionate gaze. This time, though, he leaned down to kiss her, his lips gently brushing hers. His eyes caught hers again, and then he let her go. She stepped away from him and turned her head towards the car, needing a moment. His smile spread over his face again, but didn't reach his eyes.
"So, you want to hunt down this Madison witch, or what?" She nodded, her smile as bitter as his.
Dean was impressed with how good Veronica was on a stake out. She sat in the back seat, not really saying anything, not fidgeting, just waiting. Sam refused to talk, but Dean could feel the feelings coming off him in waves. Sam was upset, but it couldn't be because Dean wasn't hooking up with Veronica. That was crazy. Sam usually wanted him to be more restrained when it came to women. So here he was, being restrained, and the little shit had the nerve to be annoyed. Fuck little brothers, Dean thought sourly. They'd been sitting outside this mansion for hours, barely talking. The silence wasn't the usual comfortable Winchester stakeout silence. Sam with his feelings and Veronica with her preoccupied thoughts were making it hard. Dean didn't even want to turn on the music, Sammy the sadsack was sucking the joy right out of him. He didn't want to think about how Veronica was affecting his mood.
Veronica's phone buzzed for the millionth time. Dean turned his head to Veronica, annoyed.
"Answer it." He said. "Just make it stop." He turned back and caught one of Sammy's disapproving looks. What the hell is wrong with him? he wondered angrily. He reached down for his coffee, and of course it had gone cold. Veronica's phone buzzed again and this time she picked it up.
"What?" she said, her voice hard. She listened. Sam and Dean could hear a distant tinny voice, and it sounded urgent. "no, I'm fine. Logan-" She paused as she listened to him talk. "Stop it." She said. "What?" She took the phone away from her head. "We have to move. Someone reported us to the cops." She said to Sam and Dean. Sam and Dean exchanged a look.
"Yes, I'm staking out Madison Sinclair's mansion in a black car, why?" She listened again. "Don't you-" She started and suddenly there was a knock on the passenger side window. She hung up the phone and murmured "I'm sorry, guys…" as Sam rolled down the window.
"Neighbourhood watch." Logan Echolls said in a falsely cheerful voice. "Why are you watching my neighborhood?" He grinned and looked at Sam and Dean in the front, Veronica in the back. He ignored her angry expression, assessing these two assholes she was with. The driver seemed dangerous, the passenger less so, but they didn't seem to be holding Veronica against her will. His eyes went back to Veronica. "Better yet, Ronnie, why are you harassing Madison Sinclair?" Sam could hear her heavy, enraged breathing just behind him.
"Why do you care so much about Madison Sinclair?" She retorted, her tone full of accusation. Sam looked at Dean; they'd faced monsters and demons and all sorts of bad shit, but they silently agreed that they didn't want to be in the middle of this… whatever this was. Teenage angst drama, with a long and storied history.
"Jesus Christ, Veronica, how many times do I have to tell you-"
"How did you know I was here?" She overrode him, not wanting to hear for the millionth time how much she meant to him, especially not in front of Dean.
"You know you can't drive a strange car in this neighborhood." Logan said impatiently. "Nobody recognizes this car. Deputy Leo caught the call, and then he called me to ask if you were staking out the Sinclair's. You don't need to be in more trouble in the 09er zip." I'm going to kill Leo, she thought furiously. "So why are you here?" Veronica couldn't think of anything to say. Logan sighed, getting ready to start in on her again.
"Yeah, that's about enough of that." Dean muttered, opening the car door and getting out. "Don't touch my car." He said to Logan, his tone dangerous. Whatever was between him and Veronica, that was their concern, but touching Dean's car would get a man killed. Logan stood up and looked at Dean across the hood of the car. Dean was tougher and his attitude was bigger even than Logan's, but Logan wasn't easily intimidated. He continued to stare at Dean, challenging him to make a move. Unimpressed, Dean stared right back. Inside the car, Sam turned to Veronica.
"Dean won't back down." He said, almost whispering.
"Neither will Logan." Veronica answered, and then they were both moving at the same time. Sam slid across the front seat to the driver's side, Veronica opened the passenger side door. They looked at each other before they got out of the car, desperate to stop the fight before it began, and slightly bemused. Sam pushed the driver's side door open, making Dean move, and breaking his eye contact with Logan. Veronica emerged from the back seat like a small blond fury.
"Logan." She said, her tone angry and urgent. He turned to her, avoiding her eyes. He looked at her hair, her hands, her shoulders, but not her face. She was trying to stay angry at him, trying to find the rage she'd had a minute ago, but this was the first time she'd been near him since that day the look that passed between them had ended things for her and Piz. She saw how tired and worried he'd really been, and imagined him pacing his suite at the Neptune grand, worrying about Keith. Worrying about her. The old familiar conflicting feelings about Logan rose up in her, and she didn't have the strength to fight them off.
"I- I worried about you." He said, his voice low. She nodded, closing her eyes.
"I know."
"And Mac said you weren't answering your phone, and then Leo called me…" He paused and met her eyes. "I thought you might be doing something… stupid." He said. He didn't let his eyes flicker to Dean, but she knew him so well that he didn't need to. She nodded again, acknowledging his concern but dismissing his accusation. He had no right, after what happened in Aspen with Madison. "What are you doing here?"
"I think Madison has something to do with my dad being sick." She said, unwilling to tell him the whole crazy theory about witchcraft. Logan frowned.
"How? She's not even home this summer." Logan said. Sam and Dean looked at each other. Sam lifted a shoulder in half a shrug, and Dean nodded, closing his eyes. They'd wasted hours staking out the wrong place.
"She's not?" Veronica's tone was getting dangerous again. How do you know that, Logan? Been seeing your little fuck buddy again?
"No." Logan said, refusing to fight with her. Veronica sighed. Logan's eyes met hers again, but she turned from him to Dean and Sam.
"Plan B?" Dean said.
"Plan B." She confirmed. She'd really wanted to see Madison Sinclair taken down. Life just wasn't fair.
"Get in." Dean said to her, and now his eyes flickered to Logan. She shook her head slightly. Logan caught the gesture and tensed.
"Veronica, no." He said, firm now that he thought she was putting herself in danger again. His face had a familiar expression, exasperation at her stubbornness. "I'm going with you or you're not going." He grabbed her arm. She looked down at his hand and slowly up at him. He didn't let go, pulled her a little closer, his eyes on hers. On the other side of the car, Dean tensed, assessing his chances of going over Baby without scratching the paint. The chances were slim to none, but that was a risk he'd have to take; he didn't like the way this Logan kid was putting his hands on Veronica. Like he owned her.
"Let me go." She said quietly. Her eyes held his and he dropped his hand from her arm.
"Why are you always running into danger?" He asked her, his voice barely above a whisper. "Why does it always have to be you?" There was more to that question, more being said than she wanted to deal with. She shrugged.
"Because it has to be." She answered. That would have to suffice. Logan, knowing her and loving her better than anyone, understood. His eyes went to Dean, but he didn't say anything. He reached out, but this time only brushed her hair back from her face. She leaned into his hand briefly and he caressed her cheek. He took his hand away, and she turned to get back in the car. Sam and Dean got in too. They drove away from Logan, and she didn't look back.