"Shot through the heart and you're to blame! You give love a BAD NAME!" We blasted Bon Jovi on the highway. It was our second day of driving and almost dark and already we were in Cincinnati, Ohio. Sam wasn't kidding about Dean. He's a good driver but the man is a psycho on the highway. Talk about fast and furious.
"Bon Jovi is awesome!" Dean shouted. "I'm getting kind of hungry."
"Dude, we just ate." Sam laughed.
"Yeah, well I'm like a lion. I'm never full." The four of us stared at him, smiling at his corniness.
"You're pretty full of it right now." I said.
He gave me a sarcastic smirk. "How about a beer?" Dean said looking at a local bar. He pulled into the parking lot. Sam looked back at us and shrugged.
"You get to stretch your legs." He said pointing out the upside. Oh well, our parents will still be there when we get home to yell at them. Us girls sat at a booth while the guys went to order us some drinks.
"Can we get five beers for the table over there?" Sam said.
"And some curly fries." Dean added enthusiastically. He winked at the hot blonde bartender. She wore a tight tank with some daisy dukes. That's perfect for work. Sam rolled his eyes.
"Get the drinks. I'm going to use the can." He said as he walked to the bathroom. He was doing his business when his phone rang. He struggled to get his phone out of his pocket. "Yeah." He answered while he washed his hands.
"Hey Sam."
"Bobby?" he recognized the voice. He was surprised to hear him calling.
"Who'd you expect kid?" Sam breathed a laugh.
"No one, it's just… never mind. What's up?"
"Just because I'm stuck in this thing doesn't make me completely useless." Sam didn't say anything. He felt guilty. "Look, Dean told me you guys were in Ohio. I got a call a few hours ago about some weird stuff going on near there. I thought maybe you could check it out. It sounds big. Apocalyptic big." Sam frowned. Ever since Dean came back from hell, they have barely had any break time. Here we are trying to kick back with a few beers and the freaking apocalypse rings his cell phone once again.
"What happened?"
"There's a small town east of Cincinnati that seems to have been completely taken over by demons. One of my hunter friends drove through and found a lot of demon activity. Too many for him to handle alone. I figure you and your Calvary could check it out."
"Yeah, sure Bobby. I'll tell them… Is that hunter nearby?" Sam asked. Bobby hesitated to answer. It was like he was hoping Sam wouldn't ask.
"Yeah." He finally said. "Where are you? I'll have them meet you there."
"We are at a bar. Jimmy's. It's on 1st and Rome Street."
"Okay. Take care of yourself. More importantly, take care of the girls. They've shown skill so far but, I have to warn you. It's a bloodbath over there."
"We'll be fine. Bye Bobby." Sam walked out of the bathroom and spotted us. The four of us were laughing over our beers and Dean spotted Sam. He lifted his beer to him. Dean saw the distressed look on his brother's face.
"Excuse me. I got to use the bathroom." He said.
"Sure, go make sure your brother didn't fall in." Dylan said, making us laugh harder.
"What happened?" he said when he got up to Sam.
"Uh… the apocalypse?" he shrugged. Dean glared at him. Sam sighed. "Bobby called."
"And?"
"And he's sending some hunters to meet up with us."
"Why?" Dean's good mood was beginning to evaporate.
"We have a case that we could use their help with. Let's just go enjoy our drinks and when they get here we will discuss everything." He walked past Dean before he could object and sped over to our table. "Hey, don't tell me you guys started without me." He joked and opened his beer. Dean walked slowly to us and sat down.
"What's wrong frownie? Did someone hit on you in the bathroom?" I joked. He took a swig of his beer.
"Nope." Dylan and I looked at each other and thought the same thing. Tense much?
"So Sam, Dean was telling us how you were a major nerd." Dylan said changing the subject. Sam smiled an embarrassed smile.
"You went to Stanford? High five dude." I said as I high fived him.
"Yeah, you got a full ride. That's awesome." Kimberly praised him.
"Thanks." He said. "What about you guys? Are you guys in college?"
"Yeah. These girlies are joining me in Hunter soon." Dylan said.
"Cool, what are your majors?" Sam asked. None of us missed the fact that the Dean that went to the bathroom and the Dean that came back were two different people. He was completely out of the conversation, caught up in his own thoughts.
"Well, we are psychology majors." I said pointing to Dylan and myself. "But Kimberly is a broadcasting major. She's going to have her own Z100 someday." We laughed at the awesome thought. Then I noticed that Sam's smile was fading and he became pensive.
"So, you girls were in college, pursuing your dreams before all of this?" His eyes were sad. I guess he could relate to being on a path and then being thrown into a completely different area. No one answered him. "Sorry." Then he smiled again looking like a hopefully little kid. "Maybe when all of this is over you guys can achieve your dreams."
"Well, we have to have a life outside of magic. This whole apocalypse thing isn't going to be the end of our lives." Kim pointed out. Dean smirked sarcastically. I guess he has other views.
After an hour of sitting in the bar and 2 more beers, the girls got antsy.
"Can we go now?" Dylan asked.
"No. Not yet." Dean said.
"Why? What are we waiting for?" I asked reading his face." Sam looked away and seemed a bit distracted.
"I think I know." He said in a timid voice. We all looked up with looks of confusion. To me, Dylan and Kimberly, we saw a pretty blonde woman who looked like she was in her late 30's, maybe early forties, but to Dean, he saw Ellen Harvelle. Ellen was an old, let's call it friend of the boys' father, John Winchester. Her husband, William Anthony Harvelle, was a hunter before he died. Ellen blamed John for her husband's death due to a mistake he made which put a strain on their relationship. Fortunately, they were able to get past that bump in the road, which makes seeing her after all this time pleasant… Or so it would seem.
"Ellen?" Dean said as he stood up.
"Dean! Sam! My boys." She said in relief as she hugged Dean. She hugged Sam and then stared at us. "Don't you have any manners?" She said to the guys. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?"
"Of course." Sam said. He introduced each one of us by name, not by title (being witches). "Ellen here, is a close family friend." She sat between Sam and Dean and kept staring at us.
"Wow. So you three are the, what did Bobby call it? The Charmed Ones?" My eyes popped open in surprise.
"Don't worry. She's a hunter… sort of." Sam clarified.
"Sort of?" she said defensively. "I bet I can kick your butt." She laughed.
"Hate to ruin this moment and all, but you want to tell us what it is you're doing here Ellen?" Dean said rudely. Ellen seemed confused and looked at Sam questioningly."
"You didn't tell him, did you?" she accused Sam.
"I was hoping you would." He smiled guiltily. She rolled her eyes.
"Well, for one thing, I definitely needed a beer. Second, Bobby told me to come get you guys."
"You're the hunter? She's the hunter?" Dean asked both her and Sam.
"Look, Rufus went missing so Jo and I went-" she was cut off.
"Wait, Jo's with you?" Dean seemed excited. Ellen's expression became sad.
"Well, she was, but I've lost her. I have a feeling that wherever Rufus is, my Jo is there too."
"Are Jo and Rufus hunters too?" Kimberly asked.
"Yes, but to me, Jo will always be my daughter." A tear came down her face as she worried about what could have been done, or is being done to her daughter. Dean squeezed her hand.
"We'll get her back." He promised. The look of determination on his face meant that he meant business.
"We're out numbered. The place is crawling with demons and the powers that the girls have won't really help that much." Dean clarified to Sam. They stood by the car, going through the arsenal in the trunk.
"Dean, where going to get her back." Sam said ignoring the previous subject.
"What?"
"Jo. We'll get her back. Don't worry." Dean tensed. He didn't like mushy chick flick moments and he especially didn't like Sam confronting him about his feelings.
"Look Sam-"
"Don't act like I don't know. What? Do you think I'm blind? You always had a thing for Jo and I know you don't want to see anything happen to her." Dean stared at Sam with his sarcastic smirk and slammed the trunk shut. He stormed away from him. Sam sighed and walked back to the group.
"So, this is a shotgun." He heard Dean instruct. ""Shoot twice, reload." He held them out for us to take.
"Oh, thank you Dean. We would never be able to figure that out without you." Kim said sarcastically.
"Thanks for the tutorial dude, but I already know how to shoot." Dylan said while opening the gun to check the rounds." She stared at the bullets which were a bit different.
"Rock salt." Dean said. "Demons and ghosts are afraid of that stuff. It won't kill them, but it packs a nice punch."
"I still don't see why we need them when we have powers." I said still being stubborn. "The Charmed Ones never had to use guns."
"Yeah, well the Charmed Ones never had to go up against the apocalypse." Sam said.
"There's nothing to it. Just get mad, aim and shoot." Dean said.
"Yeah, Shar. Like when you use knives." Kim smiled at me.
"Tell you what." I said as I walked up to Sam and went inside his jacket. Dean raised an eyebrow approvingly. I reached in and grabbed the Ruby knife and gave him the gun. "You play with your gun, I'll handle this pretty little puppy." Sam smiled at me.
"Thanks." He said.
"No problem."
"So," Dean said with a suggestive voice, "I'll get Ellen while you… play with your gun." He joked.
"Are you sure you want a gun?" Sam asked Kimberly. "We have more knives in the trunk."
"I think I can handle it. Besides, I'm around you guys. I have to get used to it."
"So, let's round up the herd and get a move on." Dylan howled. "Whoooooo!" she was a little too excited with that gun in her hand.