Chapter Sixteen: Fangirling.
Reina was reading one of the old men of letters archive journals in the afternoon, looking for anything that might jolt her memories. She sat with a notebook near, pen at the ready to jot down any details of the first case she thought would happen next – the one involving the Thule.
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"What's going on?" she heard Bobby ask as footsteps shuffled past her room.
"We have a case." Dean's voice followed.
"Two dead bodies, burnt to cinders, were found inside Marv's Lost Treasures, Antiques, and Collectibles. The strange part was that only the bodies were burnt, nothing else." Sam's voice was next, outlining the case as usual.
"We should check this out," Dean said, just as Reina hurled herself out of the room to follow them.
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"Oh, hey," Sam turned around at the footsteps behind him and found Reina running towards Him, Dean, and Bobby. They all halted mid-passage, allowing her to catch up to them.
"You're going to O-Ohio?"
"Um, yeah," Sam answered. "Why'd you ask?"
Sam observed her: clenched fists, one foot tapping nervously but softly against her other foot, and anticipation in her expression.
She knew about this case.
He thought about what it meant, her knowledge, and how it really was like knowing the future – even if it was not a 100 percent guaranteed one.
"You know what happens in this case, don't you?" Sam asked her.
She nodded.
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"So you're saying that the Thule are looking for a girl? But for what?" The four of them sat at the table in the library, Sam's eyes focused on the laptop screen, while Dean filled in Bobby about Aaron, the Golem, and the Thule, and Reina told them what she remembered about the case.
"She's a descendent of Hitler. They want to resurrect him, using her blood, and his soul."
"Hitler's soul?" Bobby exclaimed. "How'n the hell are they getting that?"
"They already have it. That's what the attack on the curiosity shop was. They wanted an old pocket watch in which the Thule had transferred Hitler's soul." Reina explained slowly. "That's what happened back then – they captured his soul in the pocket watch, and tried to escape and resurrect him soon later. But they got attacked and lost the watch. They finally located it now, and they intend to move quickly."
"Okay – so what do we do?" Dean turned towards him. "Who are you talking to?" He asked, seeing Sam on the phone.
"Aaron. He told me there is a mission called Das Blut." Sam explained and watched Reina as she recognized it.
"The blood. This is it." Reina said. "What else did Aaron say?"
"How did you know – never mind, of course you know Aaron." Sam shook his head with a small smile. "He doesn't know about the watch. Says it was lost."
"I think – That girl – she's in danger right now. She's in the same town as the watch. And they'll go after her and her boyfriend soon. She needs to be located. Now."
"So - what are we waiting here for?" Dean said.
Sam understood the look his brother was giving him. Dean's 'we' meant him and Bobby and Sam, which meant leaving Reina behind. Clearly, Dean, the ever the emotional coward, thought Sam, intended Sam to break this gently to her. Sam braced himself to tell Reina and opened his mouth to speak -
"Dean's right. You guys need to leave fast and keep an eye open for any more Thule-like deaths. They kill her boyfriend, and she runs away, getting caught by Thule. She's very escape-prone, and now that you know what happens, you can just hide her, and get on the Thule Killing." Reina spoke before Sam could say anything.
Sam and Dean exchanged a curious look, the one that needed no verbal communication. Sam thought his brother might say something, but then seemed to change his mind.
"You're staying back?" It was Bobby who voiced the question.
"Um, Yeah. I would just get in the way," she answered. She looked over at Dean. "Dean probably doesn't want me to." She added and then realized she'd said it out loud.
The awkwardness in the room became so intense one could almost taste it. Sam looked over at his brother, who had indeed looked relieved as Reina had removed herself from the trip to Ohio. He now looked like he'd shit his pants in public. He must definitely be freaking out over how she was reading his mind so smoothly, and Sam had to hide a smile at his brother's panic.
"Uh," he cleared his throat. "It's not that – It's not about wanting so much as –
"Oh god. I'm sorry. I just – I understand. The case is more important." Reina broke into Dean's stammering. "I'm not a hunter yet, and You guys can perfectly handle this. I can stay here and give you backup, any research you need." She shrugged.
"I'll stay with her. I just got back from a case last week." Bobby offered. "You boys can handle this one."
Reina started to protest, but Bobby shushed her. "It's alright. I'm not looking forward to going out now. Gets tiring, at this age. I should be retired."
"What, you, retire?" Dean raised his eyebrow. "You could never. You'd be a tottering old man, bitchin' about your back and legs, and still take down a monster."
Sam laughed. "He's right. You didn't stay down even after being dead, Bobby. What's age going to do to you?"
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Reina's heart suddenly swelled at the little homey scene. She could see the love these people had for each other. As an outsider, she could visualize their relationship, the way they were connected by threads of emotions that were tougher than any metal on earth. She could feel her own emotions balloon up and expand at seeing their smiles and short little laughs that turned into teasing; she almost forgot that she was there – it was as if she were back home and watching them through a screen.
Once more, something like a bird leaped inside her chest, fluttering against a cage made of limitations of being her – and she realized she'd lost those limitations by being allowed to witness what she'd dreamed of in reality.
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.
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She was lost in thought and didn't realize as Sam sidled up to her. Dean and Bobby were still deep in an old anecdote. "Hey." He spoke softly, but she came out of her trance as though shaken awake.
"Hey! Oh hey, Sammy -" She bit her tongue. "Sorry."
"Oh – no, it's okay. Call me Sammy."
"Really?"
Sam was a little surprised at the joy in her expression. She must really love us.
"Really." He nodded. "What's going on in your head?"
"Oh, nothing." She shook her head. "Nothing at all."
"Are you sure? You can tell me anything, okay?" Sam felt a little concerned about this girl. He knew how he'd felt when they had returned to their own universe from the alternate one where he and Dean were better off, but not friends or brothers.
He started to ask Reina about the show, and the actors – just to find out what he and Dean were like in that universe, when she softly said, "I miss Rufus."
Sam was sort of thrown off. "Rufus? Bobby's friend?"
"Yeah. He was a minor character on the show, but everybody loved him just as much as Bobby, because of their chemistry and friendship. He was a real friend. I just – I'm looking at Bobby and both of you, and I suddenly remembered that one time on the show – Rufus just turned up at Bobby's house, and just 'Oh good, you're home. I need you to help me bury a body.' And I felt like – like Bobby didn't deserve - to lose Rufus." Reina spoke in a low voice, so it didn't carry over to Dean and Bobby, who were lost in conversation.
"I'm sorry. I'm fangirling. I promise I'll keep a handle on it." She added, with a short, dry laugh.
Sam, who always had the words to calm people down, to assure them things were okay, or to help them come to terms with the supernatural, did not have words to reassure this girl, to say to her that it was okay that she adjusted to their ways so quickly, that it was all okay.
But he couldn't say any of this, and he didn't know why he didn't say it. Perhaps he, at some level, was not really okay with the effect Reina was having on him and his life.