Hi there! I wanted to get this chapter out there before the holiday weekend! I'm super excited to really get this story rolling! We're actually in TV series terrain now, so here's that big old disclaimer that I hold no rights over to anything you find familiar before sending you on your way! I hope you enjoy! Xoxo-NickyLynn
"That's because you're out of practice." She heard the man on top of Sam say as she crept up silently behind him, raising the gun to the back of his head.
"I'm not." She said as she tapped the barrel against his skull, letting him know she had a weapon trained on him. The man turned his head slowly, and when he turned around enough that the light hit his face, Ariella felt a surge of conflicting emotions roll through her as her breath caught in her throat. "Dean?"
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Dean said as he took in Ariella standing over him, gun lowering to her side as she realized it was him. "What are you doing here?" he asked, being forced back onto his feet with a shove from Sam.
"What am I doing here?" Ariella breathed out, the shock upon seeing him slowly ebbing away as anger filled its place. "What are you doing here?" she countered.
"Well, I was looking for a beer." Dean replied with a grin, motioning towards the fridge.
"Dean, what the hell?" Sam said as he pushed himself back onto his own feet.
Suddenly the lights turned on above them, and Ariella's eyes snapped up to find Jessica standing in the doorway between the kitchen the bedroom hall. "Sam?" she asked, taking in the scene before for her in confusion. Ariella quickly pulled her gun behind her body, careful to hide it from Jessica's view.
"Jess, hey." Sam said, nervously looking between her and Dean. "Dean, this is my girlfriend, Jessica."
"Wait, your brother Dean?" she asked as she stepped into the kitchen, looking less on edge, yet still confused.
"I love the Smurfs." Dean said then, taking in the tight, revealing pajama top she was wearing, complete with a set of high shorts. "You know, I've got to tell you, you are completely out of my brother's league." He said as he sauntered towards her, his grin growing into a full smirk as his eyes raked over her.
"R-right. Let me go put something on." Jessica said awkwardly, eyes sliding towards Sam uneasily as she took a step back towards the bedroom.
"No, no, no. I wouldn't dream of it." Dean said in an effort to stop her. "Seriously."
Ariella cocked back the hammer of her gun in warning as she watched him eye up Jess, and though the sound was too quiet for Jessica to know what it was, Dean clearly got the hint, because he froze as the sound hit his ears and took a step backwards. "Right, well, I just need to borrow your boyfriend here for a minute." He said as he continued to back up until he was standing between Ariella and Sam again. "Talk about some private family business, but nice meeting you."
"No." Sam said, looking from Dean over to Jessica. "No, whatever you have to say you can say it in front of her." He told Dean as he moved to stand next to Jessica, making her importance to him as obvious as he could.
"Okay." Dean said with a shrug. "Dad hasn't been home in a few days."
"So he's working overtime on a 'Miller Time' shift." Sam responded, frame going rigid with the mention of John. "He'll stumble back in sooner or later."
Dean gave him a nod, trying not to let Sam's nonchalance get to him before trying again. "Dad's on a hunting trip and he hasn't been home in a few days." He rephrased.
Ariella's guts twisted inside her at that, knowing if Dean was willing to come all the way out to Stanford to ask Sam for help on this, it had to be the real deal. Sam must have come to the same conclusion as her, for she watched as his face dropped down in seriousness. "Jess, excuse us." he said, pulling his gaze away from Dean to pass her an apologetic look. "We should probably-"
"Yeah, okay." Jess said, catching on quickly enough to the tense atmosphere that suddenly filled the room. She slipped back out of the kitchen, shutting herself back in her and Sam's bedroom.
Once she heard the door latch shut, Ariella let her gun fall back to her side as she let out a sigh. "Let's take this outside." She said, knowing they couldn't risk Jess overhearing anything.
"I'm sorry, I'm still trying to figure out what you're doing here." Dean said as he swiveled around to face her, obviously not having expected to see her there.
"Oh, like it's any of your business." She told him with a roll of her eyes.
"Well, unfortunately, Sweetheart, the moment you put your gun against my head, I'm pretty sure you made it my business." He countered with a look of displeasure.
"You broke in in the middle of the night!" she said in defense. "You're lucky I didn't shoot you first and ask questions after!"
"Oh, like you could have-" Dean began to retort before Sam cut him off.
"Guys!" he said sharply, nodding his head back towards the bedroom door for emphasis. "Can we take this outside? Please?"
Ariella's jaw fused shut as she forcefully shoved her anger back down, motioning towards the front door. Dean took the hint, for he moved towards the door then, followed by Sam and Ariella. As she stepped through the doorway, however, Dean spun around and held up his arms. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked. "I said this was a family matter."
Ariella's previous anger flared in response to that jab. As always, he seemed to know just what to say to set her on edge in the worst of ways. She just shook her head, letting out a scoff as she brushed past him. "Good to know some things never change." she said under her breath, taking the lead as she walked down the stairs towards the parking lot. "You know, this is ridiculous." She said louder then, Sam following behind her as Dean took up the rear. "You couldn't have at least waited until morning?" she tossed back towards Dean, the cold biting into the skin of her legs uncomfortably.
"She's right." Sam agreed. "I mean, you can't just break in in the middle of the night and expect me to hit the road with you."
"Dad's missing, Sammy." Dean stated again, it being all the reason he needed. "I need help finding him."
"You remember the poltergeist in Amherst?" Sam shot out at him. "Or the Devil's Gates in Clifton? He was missing then, too."
"He's got a point." Ariella said as she hit the bottom of the stairwell, turning around as Sam and Dean hit the landing as well. "John has a tendency to get wrapped up in his cases and forget about checking in. He's gone missing more times than I can count and yet he's always fine."
Dean leveled her with a serious look before shaking his head. "Not for this long." He told her before turning his attention back on Sam. "Now, are you going to come with me or not?"
"I'm not." Sam responded.
"Why not?" Dean asked, sounding genuinely confused by his refusal.
"I could write you an essay on all the reasons why." Ariella scoffed, pulling Dean's grumpy eyes back onto her. "After everything John put him through, you really think Sam owes him anything?"
"I swore I was done hunting." Sam said for himself. "For good."
"Oh, come on. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't that bad." Dean said as he began walking, taking the lead again.
"Yeah?" Sam asked with a humorless breath of laughter as he followed after his brother. "When I told Dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a forty-five."
"Well what was he supposed to do?" Dean asked, spinning around to face Sam again as he stopped in front of the door which lead outside.
"I was nine years old!" Sam told him with a bitter laugh. "He was supposed to say 'Don't be afraid of the dark.'"
"Don't be afraid of the dark?" Dean repeated in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? Of course you should be afraid of the dark! You know what's out there."
"The point Sam's trying to make," Ariella said as she stepped up between the two brothers again. "Is that John's obsession clouded his vision when it came to being a parent. He put finding that thing that killed your mom above everything else, and just look where that's gotten him….gotten all of us." She said, casting a hand around the circle of them. "You really think Mary would have wanted that kind of life for you?"
Dean was silent for a moment then, the muscles in his jaw twitching as he fought off the anger that wanted to bubble out of him. Without saying anything in response, he slammed his hand against the metal frame of the door, pushing it open to storm outside. Ariella and Sam shared a look as he walked out of the building, both of them knowing this was an argument that never seemed to get anywhere. Sam followed him out regardless, leaving Ariella to do the same with an exasperated sigh.
"Dean, come on, we were raised like warriors." Sam pressed as he walked up the few concrete steps that lead to the street. "The melting of silver into bullets…the weapons training…it was insane!"
"So what are you going to do?" Dean asked as he come to a stop by the parked Impala. "Live some normal, apple-pie life? Is that it?" he asked patronizingly.
"No, not normal." Sam told him as he and Ariella came to a stop as well. "Safe."
Dean let out a scoff at that. "And that's why you ran away."
"He went to college, Dean!" Ariella bit out in anger, painful wounds opening wider and wider the longer the conversation went on. "Why are you and John so quick to crucify him for wanting a life?"
"He abandoned his family." Dean insisted.
"It was Dad who said if I was going to go, I should just stay gone." Sam defended. "And that's what I'm doing."
Dean was quiet for another moment as he shook his head. "Dad's in real trouble right now." He said, licking his lips. "If he's not dead already. I can feel it. I..." he said, pausing to let out a breath. "I can't do this alone." He admitted.
"Yes you can." Sam told him, knowing Dean had taken on far more difficult tasks without his help.
"Yeah…well maybe I just don't want to do this alone." He admitted honestly.
Ariella felt a lurch in her gut at that confession. She was all too familiar with what it felt like to be out there hunting alone. How scared you can get knowing you have no one to cover your back. It had been different when they were kids. No matter what, they had always had each other to lean on…to wait out the long, lonely nights with…but then things had fallen apart. There were times she yearned for it as well…to not be alone…to have a family again. As she watched Dean, eyes cast down to the concrete and looking downright desperate for help, she couldn't help but picture the boy he had been what felt like just a few years prior…and how she would have walked through hell for him.
She briefly wondered how things had gotten so messy between them before letting out a deep sigh, running her hand through her hair as she succumbed to her decision. "What was he hunting?" she asked, her anger slowly dissipating away.
Dean's eyes snapped up to hers, and she watched as a small spark of hope flickered within them. "I don't know." He answered.
"Just…show us what you got." Sam added with his own sigh.
Dean's features shifted then and he moved towards the trunk, pulling out the keys from his pocket to unlock it. As he slid in the key and pulled it open, Ariella and Sam stepped up beside him, watching as he opened up the hidden supply of weapons. "Alright, let's see." He said as he propped the lid up. "Where did I put that thing?" he asked under his breath as his eyes swept over the mess inside.
"So, when Dad left, why didn't you go with him?" Sam asked as they watched him search for whatever it was he was looking for.
"I was on my own hunt. This voodoo thing down in New Orleans." Dean answered easily before grabbing hold of a folder of papers, quickly flipping through it. "Alright, here we go." He said as he pulled some papers free. "So, Dad was checking out this two-laned blacktop just outside of Jericho, California." He began to explain as he flipped through the pages. "About a month ago, this guy-" he said as he held up one of the papers, Ariella quickly snatching it out of his hand to inspect. It was a printout of a news article titled Centennial Highway Disappearance. Her eyes swept over it, studying the image of the man on it, before handing it over to Sam. "They found his car, but he'd vanished." He explained. "Completely M.I.A."
"Maybe he was kidnapped." Sam supplied after studying the article for himself, handing it back over to Dean.
"Yeah, well…here's another one in April." Dean said as he laid another article down for them to see. "Another in December '04." He said, laying down another. "'03, '98, '92." He continued, laying down one on top of the other. "Ten of them over the past twenty years."
"All men?" Ariella asked, reaching over to grab hold of the top paper, having seen nothing but male faces printed within the articles.
Dean nodded. "All of them vanishing from the same five-mile stretch of road." Ariella hummed in thought as her eyes dropped back down to the paper, before Dean pulled open another latch, pulling her gaze up to a map he had pulled out. "Started happening more and more so Dad went to dig around."
"How long has he been gone?" Ariella asked him, eyebrows dipping together.
"Three weeks." Dean said in response, looking between her and Sam. "I haven't heard from him since, which is bad enough, and then I get this voicemail yesterday." He said then, fishing out his phone. He pressed a few buttons, holding it out between them all, before John's distorted voice could be heard coming from the speaker.
"Dean, something is starting to happen. I think it's serious. I need you to try to figure out what's going on." His voice said, static making it harder to make out what he was saying the longer the message played. After that his voice became too jumbled to understand, almost as if another voice was trying to speak over top of it, until the static cleared again and he said, "Be very careful Dean. We're all in danger."
"You know there's an EVP on that?" Sam asked once it ended, having heard the second voice as well.
"Not bad, Sammy." Dean told him with a smirk. "Kind of like riding a bike, isn't it?"
"Okay, so have you been able to isolate it?" Ariella asked.
Dean's eyes slid onto her again before pressing another button on his phone. After a moment, a distorted female voice could be heard whispering the words, "I can never…go….home."
"Never go home." Sam repeated.
Dean dropped the phone back into the trunk before pulling back and slamming it closed. He turned to sit against the rear bumper, crossing his arms up across his chest. "You know in almost two years, I've never bothered you….never asked you for a thing." He said, knowing he had nothing else to use to convince him to help. He had laid all his cards on the table, and now it was up to Sam on what he decided to do.
Ariella pulled her bottom lip between her teeth in thought as she turned towards Sam. She watched as processed his own thoughts before he let out a defeated sigh. "I'll go." He finally said after a moment of contemplation.
"Sam." Ariella said, stepping closer as she turned to face only him. "You don't have to do this." She said lowly, not liking the idea of him getting dragged back into things like this.
Sam dropped his eyes down onto her. "It's fine." he said, having made up his mind on the matter. "I'll help you find him." he said then as his gaze moved over her sholder, directing the statement at Dean. "But I have to be back first thing Monday morning."
Ariella let out a sigh, shaking her head. She looked from him, over to Dean again, watching as a satisfied smirk took hold of him. Knowing there would be no talking Sam out of his decision, Ariella stormed away, heading back for the apartment.
Once inside, she began throwing a bag of clothes and weapons together, before quickly slipping out of her pajamas and getting on pants and shirt. As she moved back through the apartment with her loaded up bag, passing Sam as she went, he shot her a confused look. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"What's it look like I'm doing?" she asked him, holding her hands out to the side like it was obvious. "I'm going with you."
"No, you're not." Sam said instantly. "Ari, you're still hurt, you should be-" he began to argue before she cut him off.
"Sam, I'm fine." she said, shaking her head. "And if you think I'm letting you get pulled back into this shit by yourself you're out of your mind."
Sam just let out a long sigh, seeing the determination set into her features and knowing there was no talking her out of it. "I'm going." She said in finality, moving past him before he could argue more. She made her way out of the apartment then, leaving him to pack his own bag, before heading back down to the street where Dean was still waiting by his car.
As Ariella approached, Dean turned, a look of instant unhappiness washing over him as he took note of her and the bag in her grasp. "Oh, hell no." he said, pushing himself away from the side of the car to stand against her with crossed arms. "Sorry, but invitation only, Sweetheart."
"You can shove your invitation up your ass, Sweetheart." She bit back, dropping her bag onto the ground next to her, daring him to try stopping her.
"I came here for my brother, not you." He said with a shake of his head.
"I'm coming." Ariella maintained, finding that her anger was boiling under her skin again, something that only Dean was capable of eliciting in her.
"Like hell you are." He scoffed. "In case you didn't catch on, this is a family m-" He began before Ariella's anger boiled over the edge. In one swift movement, she pulled her dagger free from under her sleeve before lunging at him, giving him a shove towards the car. Dean's back slammed into the Impala, eyes blowing wide with surprise, before Ariella was on him, her blade held up against the flesh of his throat, using it to keep him pressed against the frame.
"If you think I'm letting Sam go anywhere alone with you, you're sorely mistaken." She bit out lowly as she pressed up against him. "He's been out of the field for too long…he's vulnerable. And I am not just going to let you swoop in here and get him hurt."
"You really think I would let anything happen to him?" Dean seethed in response, glaring up at her.
"Oh, I know you won't." Ariella said with an arched brow as she pulled back, retracting the dagger from his neck. "Because I'm going to make sure you don't." she said, making her position clear.
"You are just as infuriating as ever." Dean bit out, thrusting a finger at her as she stepped back to scoop up her bag again.
"Well, at least we can agree on something." Ariella agreed before the sound of footsteps behind her caught her attention. She turned to find Sam making his way towards them with his own packed bag.
"Well?" he said, sweeping past them as he moved towards the passenger door. "Are we going or not?"
Ariella pulled her eyes away from Sam as he pulled open the door and dipped inside the car, leveling her hardened gaze back onto Dean. "Just like old times." she said, flashing him a wide, humorless smile as she, too, moved towards the car. She pulled open the back door before tossing her bag in. "Come on then." She called out as she slid inside. "We've got monsters to hunt and people to save!"