(S1EP13 - Route 666)
Alina walked out of the convenience store with her arms full of candies and chips. She ignored the exasperated look she got from Sam when she threw everything on the backseat of the car, keeping one open bag of M&M's in her hands when she turned to her friend. "Alright Sammy, how about you keep your little comments to yourself?"
"I didn't say anything."
"You did, with your eyes. I can hear your eyes judging me."
"Good. They are."
The two friends shared an amused smile until they both looked back at the map laid on top of the Impala. Sam was supposed to find a way to get to Pennsylvania as soon as possible.
"So whatcha got?" Alina questioned him, taking a quick glance at Dean behind them. He had his phone to his ear and seemed focused on what he was hearing, so Alina decided to wait for him to finish to ask him about it.
"Okay. I think I found a way we can bypass that construction just east of here. We might even make Pennsylvania faster than we thought."
"Yeah. Problem is, we're not going to Pennsylvania."
Sam and Alina both turned to Dean who'd lowered his phone, looking thoughtful.
"We what?" Sam was stunned by his sudden change of mind when he'd been the one insisting to go to Pennsylvania in the first place.
"I just got a call from an..." He looked at Alina, unsure of what he was supposed to say in front of her. They weren't technically 'dating' because they didn't want to rush into things, but they were definitely closer than they were before going to Nebraska. He was even surprised they hadn't have sex yet, because usually that was the first thing he would do when getting close to a woman. And he was fine with all of this, because he'd never experienced that kind of relationship with someone before. She simply understood him, and was there for him. So yes, talking about the person who'd just called him wasn't going to be an easy task.
"From who?" Alina asked when she noticed Dean's long hesitation. She was curious now.
"From...an old friend." And just with these three words, Alina already knew what kind of 'friend' he was talking about. She instantly thought it was cute of him to think she would get mad at him for his past relationships, yet she let him continue, acting as if she really believed about that 'old friend' thing.
"Her father was killed last night, think it might be our kind of thing."
"What?" The way Sam seemed completely oblivious about the situation made it even more absurd.
"Yeah. Believe me, she never woulda called, never, if she didn't need us."
Alina was getting even more intrigued by that mysterious girl. Especially because Dean hurried to get into the car after that, clearly trying to avoid the interrogations. The two best friends still standing on the side of the car shared a suspicious look, letting each other know that something interesting was going on.
"Come on, are you coming or not?" Dean yelled at them through the window.
And they definitely couldn't miss this, so they quickly joined him inside the Impala and they drove away from the gas station in an awkward silent.
LATER
Sam knew that his brother couldn't talk openly about his past relationship, with Alina being so near. So when he turned to the girl after a few hours of driving, a sly smile appeared on his lips. Eyes closed, head resting on the window, mouth slightly open...she was fast asleep.
He didn't wait any longer to question his brother a little more about that mysterious girl. "So by old friend you mean..."
Dean immediately checked the rearview mirror, relieved to see the hunter sleeping. He didn't even know why he felt so uncomfortable with her hearing about it. "A friend that's not new." He simply replied, annoyed by Sam's curiousness.
"Oh yeah, thanks. So her name's Cassie uh? You never mentioned her."
"Didn't I?" He took a long pause, hoping Sam would give up eventually, but the youngest Winchester kept looking at him expectantly. Once again, his eyes found the rearview mirror to make sure he could speak freely, then sighed. "Yeah, we went out."
"You mean you dated somebody? For more than one night."
"Am I speaking a language you're not getting here? Dad and I were working a job in Ohio, she was finishing up college. We went out for a couple of weeks.
"And...?"
Dean simply shrugged. He didn't want to talk about it because that was in the past. But for some reason, Sam just couldn't let go. "Look, it's terrible about her dad, but it kinda sounds like a standard car accident. I'm not seeing how it fits with what we do. Which by the way, how does she know what we do?"
Dean was suddenly so bad at hiding the guilty look on his face, Sam's jaw quickly dropped in realization. He was about to yell at his brother, but someone else decided to join the conversation at the same time.
"So you told her?"
The two brothers were startled by the vision of the third hunter, now leaning against the front bench seat like she'd been there all along. She was perfectly awake. Had she...
"What? Did you guys really think I was asleep? I also wanna know about...Cassie? Is that her name?"
"Yeah." Sam quickly confirmed, getting back to Dean's shocking confession. "You told her. You told her, the secret! Our big family rule number one. We do what we do and we shut up about it. For a year and a half I do nothing but lie to Jessica, and you go out with this chick in Ohio a couple of times and you tell her everything?"
Dean remained silent. The only reason he was able to talk about Cassie, was because he thought Alina couldn't hear him. But she'd actually heard everything, and now she also wanted to know more.
The hunter just wanted to disappear in his seat, and his brother wasn't helping with his accusatory look either. "Dean!"
"Yeah! Looks like." Dean kept staring at the road, unable to look at Alina.
However, the girl was more concerned about Sam's feelings than Dean's ex girlfriend right now. He looked hurt by his brother's choice to reveal the truth to that girl. He even looked back at her with a frown, expecting some support from her. But there wasn't much Alina could say about this, she'd never been with someone unaware of her world. She couldn't even imagine herself having to explain her job to an ordinary person without them being in danger. So she wondered how this conversation had gone for Dean and Cassie. Probably not great, since he'd never talked about her before today.
"So how is she?" Alina asked with a mischievous smile while Dean still refused to look at her.
"Why do you wanna know?"
"Well...you guys know about Charlie."
"Yeah? What about Elias?"
That question surprised Alina, since she wasn't expecting him to mention Elias. Dean had met him weeks ago and they'd never talked about him ever since that day. She didn't even remember telling him about her relationship with Elias, but Sam knew. Had Dean asked his brother about it? When?
Alina frowned and chuckled at the same time. "What about him?"
Dean couldn't understand how she could act so randomly to this situation. How could she not feel the awkwardness of it all? Was he overreacting?
"You're gonna tell me you two didn't date?"
"Well...no. Because we did. I just didn't know you were interested in that story."
Alina frowned even more, although she now felt like she needed to hide her smile. Was Dean Winchester jealous? Why? She was curious to know about Cassie, because she genuinely wanted to hear more about Dean's past. Obviously, him being in an actual relationship had never even crossed her mind, so that girl had to be special somehow. She would've reacted the same way if this was about Sam's ex girlfriend.
"Besides, you already met Elias, I don't even know if Cassie's her full name or just a short version for Cassandra or...Cassidy..."
"It's just Cassie." Dean's tone clearly indicated that he didn't want to talk about it anymore.
"Okay, weirdo..." Alina fell back on her seat, not surprised by Dean's anger issues because she was also a short-tempered person. She just decided that she'd get her answers once she'd meet that girl anyway, so there was no need to argue over this now.
LATER
The hunters were able to make it to the newspaper office before sundown. They entered the office, Sam and Alina staying behind Dean to make sure they wouldn't miss Cassie's arrival. Which happened faster than expected when they instantly heard a man talking to another man and a woman.
"Jimmy, you're too close to this. Those guys were friends of yours. Again, Cassie, I'm very sorry for your loss."
The two men then walked away in different directions, while the beautiful woman simply sighed and turned around, freezing in place when she saw Dean standing in front of her.
Alina could feel how apprehensive Dean was to see her, even if he tried to hide it behind a faint grin.
"Dean." She kept staring at him like she'd just seen a ghost.
"Hey Cassie."
Alina could feel a huge wave of anger and regrets coming at her, and she had to look away for a moment to get her focus back. She didn't know which emotion belonged to Dean, and which belonged to Cassie, but she didn't have time to think about it more since the hunter quickly cleared his throat. "This is my brother Sam."
Cassie smiled at Sam, who smiled back at her.
"And...this is Alina." Dean sounded more hesitant to introduce her, yet she ignored it and simply nodded at Cassie.
"Alina?" Cassie frowned for a moment, trying to remember that name, then smiled back at the hunter. "You're French, right?"
If Alina was surprised to learn about Cassie, she was even more stunned to find out that Cassie already knew about her. "Yeah, I take it you heard of me."
"And I take it you didn't even know about my existence before today." She wasn't angry about it, and there was no hate directed towards Alina in that sentence. She was just stating facts and Alina appreciated her straightforwardness. She definitely was Dean's type.
Sam watched his brother slowly getting more and more anxious about these two acting so friendly with each other. He wasn't expecting them to jump at each other's neck to fight over him, but he hadn't thought about that scenario either. The young women shared another smile, until Cassie's faded as her gaze returned to Dean.
There were a lot of mixed feelings between the two exes, and Sam could feel it even without Alina's Empathy. But he was still curious to know what his friend was getting from them. Of course she didn't look as worried as Dean, because she wasn't that kind of person anymore. In the past, she used to overthink a lot, trying to analyze people's reactions and behaviors. Yet, she'd changed during the five years she'd spent away from the brothers, she was way more confident about herself when it came to relationships, and wouldn't waste her own time by feeling threatened by anyone.
That made Sam smile, because Cassie seemed to share that characteristic with her. Dean just had a type of women...
LATER
After that strange reunion, the three hunters had followed Cassie to her mother's house where she told them about the situation. She was actually worried about her mother going off by herself because she'd apparently been nervous and frightened recently. Her husband was already having a strange behavior before dying, scared, and convinced that a black truck was following him. However, he'd never mentioned a driver, saying the truck would simply appear and disappear out of nowhere.
"And, in the accident, dad's car was dented, like it had been slammed into by something big." Cassie kept telling her story, handing Sam a cup of tea.
"Thanks. Now you're sure this dent wasn't there before?"
Cassie gave Dean a cup, and she was about to pour one for Alina when the brothers' friend politely stopped her, taking the one in Dean's hand while he was already staring at it in distress. She couldn't see the effect that simple gesture had on Dean, because she kept her focus on Cassie's story, but Sam noticed the little grin on his brother's face when she came to his rescue like it was the most natural thing to do. She just knew him too well.
That little detail didn't stop the brothers from listening to Cassie when she told them her father used to sell cars. He was always driving a new one without a scratch, which confirmed that the dent was coming from the accident. It had also rained a lot that night, so her father's car had left a distinct set of muddy tracks, leading right to the edge where he went over. But it was the only set of tracks the police had found.
And it wasn't the first accident that happened in this town. Her father's best friend and partner, had also died in a car accident last month. Same dent, no tracks, and the police had came up with the same conclusion for both accidents. They'd simply lost control of their cars.
"Can you think of any reason why your father and his partner might be targets?" Sam asked her once they'd heard the full story.
"No."
"And you think this vanishing truck ran them off the road?"
This question clearly made Cassie uncomfortable about the situation. "When you say it aloud like that... Listen, I'm a little skeptical about this...ghost stuff...or whatever it is you guys are into."
Dean scoffed at this. "Skeptical. If I remember, I think you said I was nuts."
"That was then."
And as they were now staring at each other, Alina finally realized who was angry, and who felt remorse. So that was the way things ended between them. The hunter felt terribly bad for her friend, because she knew his biggest fear was people running away from his true-self. The moment she'd found out about it, she'd promised herself to never let him experience that, but she couldn't know he'd already been through it.
"I just know that I can't explain what happened up there." Cassie continued in a guilty voice. "So I called you."
They were interrupted when the front door suddenly opened on a middle age woman. The hunters all rose to their feet as Cassie went to take her mother's arm.
"Mom. Where have you been I was so..."
"I had no idea you'd invited friends over."
"Mom, this is Dean, a...friend of mine from...college."
Alina had to fight the urge to laugh at that.
"And this is his brother Sam, and their friend Alina."
Alina was about to wave at her but the woman was already trying to leave. "Well I won't interrupt you."
"Mrs Robinson." Dean stopped her with his most compassionate tone. "We're sorry for your loss. We'd like to talk to you for a minute if you don't mind?"
Cassie's mom slightly looked offended by his request, but what she really felt gave Alina a new headache. She was scared. Absolutely terrified.
"I'm really not up for that right now."
And she left the room at the same time Alina took Sam's arm to keep her balance. The brothers were fast to grab her when she stumbled, both holding her so she wouldn't fall. Her eyes closed in a grimace she couldn't hide.
"Alina?" Dean called her with concern, lifting her face so he could analyze it. "You okay?"
She clearly couldn't talk about the problem in front of Cassie, so she put on her most convincing smile and tried standing up correctly, still holding onto the boys. "I'm fine. Just a little tired from the drive, I guess."
The Winchesters knew perfectly what was going on. They were constantly driving when they weren't on a hunt, and she'd never been tired because of it. That was her Empathy. Dean looked at Cassie with the same forced smile on his face. "Yeah she's right, we should all get some rest and start investigating tomorrow."
Cassie didn't look convinced by his explanation, but still nodded in agreement before walking them to the door.
LATER
"I'm telling you, her mom's hiding something." Alina took another sip of her beer. She loved tea, but she preferred beer after having such a bad Empathy headache. So she'd insisted to go in a local bar before finding a motel, to take a little break in that strange day. And Dean had to admit that he also needed a drink.
"Maybe you just felt her grief, Alina." Sam was trying to reassure her, but she got even more offended by his theory.
"Okay I know this whole Empathy thing is still new, but when I get an emotion I can literally feel it like it's mine. And I think I know the difference between fear and grief. That woman was terrified of something, and I'm getting tired of those freaking headaches!"
She angrily grabbed the bottle in front of her to take another sip, but ended up drinking the entire content in one go. The brothers watched her silently, too scared to say anything that could make her lose her temper. Dean was worried about her. He wished he could get rid of those headaches for her, because every time it happened he could see the pain in her eyes and felt completely useless.
He didn't even know how to cheer her up right now.
All of a sudden, a waiter stopped at their table to put a new beer in front of her. Alina frowned at the bottle, then at the waiter. "I didn't ask for that."
"It's from that guy over there."
The hunters all watched in the direction he was pointing at. Dean and Sam were getting ready to stop the girl before she could jump off her seat, to kick that drunkard's ass for trying to seduce her with a stupid beer. That had already happened too many times in a few months. But what they didn't expect, was for a giant smile to appear on the hunter's face when she recognized the familiar face of the guy walking towards them.
"Marcus?!" She shouted in shock to see him here. But it was him. Alina couldn't believe that he was still wearing his legendary favorite emerald bomber jacket. And since he'd obviously cut his hair, it almost felt weird for the young woman to see his beautiful brown eyes, that used to be perfectly hidden behind a few strands of thick curls.
The newcomer had the same goofy smile as her on his face, when he stopped a little further away from her table with his arms open. "Hey Fantasy."
Alina let out a little excited scream that made the Winchesters jump, and rushed towards the young man to jump in his arms. He held her tightly and made her spin in the air. They were both laughing, overjoyed to be reunited after all this time.
Dean and Sam watched the scene from their table, Sam amused by his friend's sudden outburst, Dean confused about this new guy's arrival. Who was that?
Alina kept laughing once she was back on her feet and grabbed her friend's face in her hands to look at him more closely. Even now that she was wearing heels, he was still slightly taller than her. "Look at you! I love the beard but...come on, you can't be wearing that jacket right now! Have you even washed it since the last time I saw you?!"
"Oh yeah?! I almost didn't recognize you with the whole new 'black leather and lace' style!"
Alina proudly turned on herself to let him see the whole package, making him laugh and hug her once again. The young woman was so happy to see her old friend, she'd almost forgot about the brothers still sitting at their table behind them. But of course, Dean multiple fake coughs quickly brought her back to reality.
She grabbed Marcus' hand and pulled him with her towards the table with a big childish grin. "Marcus, this is Sam and Dean."
Marcus' face instantly lit up at her words. "Right, the Winchesters! Hey it's so nice to finally meet you guys, I've heard a lot about you."
Sam smiled back at him, but Dean wasn't sharing his excitement. "Really? 'Cause I don't think we ever heard of you."
Alina gave him an angry look, disappointed by his passive-aggressive tone. She wasn't even that mean when she'd met Cassie, his ex girlfriend, aka the girl who'd hurt him in the past.
Fortunately, Marcus wasn't the type of guy to get mad over a non-friendly tone. He just kept smiling, and nodded at the eldest brother. "Dean Winchester. Elias was right, you leave a crazy first impression, man."
Dean's body tensed up at the mention of this name. Alina noticed it, and regretted having this conversation with him about Elias earlier. That wasn't the right moment for him to get reminded of her ex boyfriend.
The hunter tried to act normally, clearing her throat and looking at Sam to avoid Dean's gaze. "Marcus and Elias are best friends. Every time I wasn't with you guys I was hunting with these two."
"When was that?" Dean was clearly confused about the timeline.
Alina thought for a moment, trying to give the most accurate answer. "I think the first time was right after I'd turned 15, and the last time was a few weeks before my dad..."
She wasn't comfortable talking about him in this awkward situation. He hated this kind of moment, he would always try to make people laugh and forget about the tension in the room.
Marcus' smile slowly faded away as he put his arm around Alina in a comforting way. He hadn't saw her after that tragic event. "Honey I'm sorry about your dad. He was an incredible man."
"Yeah..." Alina nodded with a faint smile. She knew how much Marcus and Elias used to respect her father, and he would've never let her travel alone with them at such a young age if he didn't also respect them.
Dean however, couldn't ignore the way that guy had just called Alina. Honey? What the heck? Had she dated Elias and his best friend too?
"Wait...I didn't know your parents let you hunt alone when you were 15. Why didn't you hunt with us?"
Alina was getting tired of all these questions. Why couldn't he just ask what he wanted to know? "Well like I said, I wasn't alone. And need I remind you that you and John never allowed me to join your little hunting trips?"
"What? Of course we did!"
Alina laughed at the situation. "No Dean. I clearly remember you telling me that you didn't wanna spend all your time having to protect me."
"Protect you?" Marcus also laughed. "I can't even count the times you protected us. Remember Mexico?"
Elias had also mentioned that when they were at his apartment, and as Sam was also sensing the tension rising, he decided to take the lead before his brother could say anything else. "What happened in Mexico?" He asked with a genuine, curious smile that instantly put Alina in a better mood.
"A siren tried to make Elias and Marcus kill each other." She turned to her friend. "I still can't believe that you really thought John Stamos, wanted you to kill your best friend in order to marry him."
"I never said it was John Stamos! I said he looked like John Stamos."
"That's even worse, honey. If you ever try to kill me, it better be for the real deal and not just a freaking lookalike."
The two friends tried to hide their smiles as they were staring at each other, but eventually ended up burst out laughing at their good memories together.
Dean took this as an opportunity to discreetly lean towards his brother and whisper to him. "Did she say...John Stamos?"
Sam scoffed at his sudden realization. "Yeah, Dean. She did." He found absurd the way his brother's expression softened instantly.
So Marcus wasn't a threat after all...
"So what are you doing here?" Alina asked her friend once they'd both calmed down and sat with the brothers.
"Well...my uncle died last month. Thought it was just an accident until his partner also died, in the exact same way."
Alina and the Winchesters shared the same surprised look. They weren't expecting this.
"So I went to see my aunt this morning and she told me about a black truck following my uncle around before the accident. And since y'all are here, I guess I was right to have some doubts."
His partner? Last month? So his uncle...
"You're Clayton Soames' nephew?" Sam and Alina questioned him in chorus, getting a quick nod from the hunter before he finished his beer, clearly still affected by his loss.
Alina gently put her hand on his shoulder. "Marcus I'm sorry..."
The young man lifted his own hand to put it on top of hers with a sad smile. "Thanks, Fantasy. So how did you end up here anyway?"
Of course he wanted to change the subject. Marcus didn't like having all the attention on him when he was in pain. Maybe that was a characteristic every hunters shared, and although Alina wished she could comfort him, she respected his choice and answered his question normally. "Dean is...he used to be friends with the second victim's daughter."
She clearly didn't want to get into details right now, and it was Dean's turn to finish his beer in one go. It'd be hard to focus on that case...
The four hunters started to talk about the informations they already had on the black truck, until they all decided it was time to go find a motel for the night. Marcus had agreed to let his friend and the Winchesters handle this case, but still wanted to stay in town to make sure his aunt was alright, and be there as backup in case something went wrong for the other three.
"Hey, you didn't tell me how long you're planning on staying in America." Marcus pointed out as they were all walking towards the motel entrance.
"Honestly, I'm not even planning on leaving just yet."
"Wait...really?! That's awesome, Fantasy! You should've said that sooner!"
Alina smiled at his overreaction, even if she was also more than happy to be here. She really didn't want to go back in France, she loved her life here with the Winchesters. And she was curious to know where that 'thing' with Dean was going.
"Hey Marcus?" Sam interrupted their celebration with an intrigued tone. "I've been wanting to ask, why do you call her 'Fantasy'?"
Alina stopped walking right in front of the motel entrance, forcing the other three to follow her lead. The Winchesters were staring at her worryingly, while she couldn't take her eyes off Marcus. He wouldn't say it, would he?
"Wait...so you don't know about her Mariah Carey morning thing?"
He would. Of course he would!
"Her what?" The brothers asked in chorus, still looking at their blushing friend.
Marcus was about to let out more informations when Alina simply shouted the first words that came to her mind. "Slumber Party!"
The three men looked at her in total confusion, but she couldn't show her embarrassment right now. She needed a diversion. "Right? Marcus? For old time's sakes. Let's do this!" She then turned to the brothers with a big grin. "I'll share a room with Marcus, so don't wait for me and get some sleep, okay?"
And before they could say anything, Alina grabbed her friend's hand to pull him inside the motel with her.
LATER
"I can't believe you were gonna tell them!" Alina threw her pillow at Marcus with a laugh. They were both sitting on the large bed, beers in hands, music on the radio. That reminded Alina of so many fun nights they'd had when they were teenagers.
"How could they not know about it?"
"I figured out how to sing in my head!"
Marcus laughed and threw the pillow back at her. "Okay, so...what's going on between you and Dean Winchester?"
Alina's jaw dropped. She hadn't done anything suspicious indicating something was going on with Dean. "How did you..."
"Oh please! That guy was trying to find a way to murder me with his eyes until you mentioned John Stamos."
Alina had also noticed the way Dean had completely relaxed after that. She probably wouldn't be sleeping in the same bed as Marcus if he hadn't. She normally would've hated that kind of attitude from a man she wasn't even 'dating'. But she didn't mind with Dean because she already knew how short-tempered he could be, and that was one of the most attractive things about him. They were so alike. "Yeah I'm sorry for that. Dean is...well he's always been overprotective with me, but I think he's just nervous about being here. Remember the old friend we came to help? Well they weren't just 'friends'."
"Oh. Is she hot?"
"She's stunning. I mean clearly...I wish she was my ex too."
She made Marcus chuckle with that statement because he knew how serious she was, even though she didn't use to be so confident about herself in the past. He was actually so proud of her for that.
"I hope he treats you right."
The young woman smiled, knowing Marcus wanted to add something like 'if he doesn't I'll kick his ass', but just couldn't make such a risky promise for his own well-being.
"He does. But...you know we're not really...official, yet."
"Why not? He's hot, you're hot, I don't see the problem."
"We both suck at relationships, that's the problem. I just don't want things to get too weird, too quick, you know?"
Alina was relieved when Marcus nodded in agreement. She was starting to feel like maybe she was being too paranoid about this.
"Well I wish that dumbass I call best friend was as wise as you are. I just can't stand his new girlfriend."
Alina frowned at that new information. Elias hadn't mentioned a girlfriend when she was at his apartment. And Marcus was the kind of person who could find good in anyone, it was surprising to see him get so easily annoyed by her.
"Why? What's wrong with her?"
"What's wrong with her?! She's a witch!"
"Okay, that's a little too much, even for you."
"No I mean she's literally a witch, Alina! With the spells and potions!"
And...that changed everything. Now she could understand Marcus' concern.
Alina knew that all witches weren't necessarily bad, Lucie was a perfect example for that. However, Elias was the last person she expected to be dating one of them. It was a witch that had killed his mom when he was still a kid, and he'd heard his father talking about how dangerous they could be ever since that day. He'd never even worked on a job if witches were suspected to be involved, because he just wanted to stay as far away as possible from them. He didn't hate them, he just didn't want to let their existence define his life.
So how had he ended up dating one?
"Are you sure she's a..."
"Yeah. Definitely. She's not hiding it."
"And Elias..."
"Is okay with that."
Yes it was strange, but Alina had just learned about that relationship, she didn't know that girl, and she knew Elias wouldn't date a dangerous person. Yet, Marcus' expressions were pretty easy to read. It was pretty easy to guess what he was thinking about.
"So what? You think she's manipulating him with a spell?"
"I don't know..."
"You found any proof? Sigils, hex bags...voodoo dolls?"
Marcus shook his head in defeat. He already knew that without a proof he couldn't convince his friend that something was wrong. And although Alina didn't want to assume anything about Elias' new girlfriend, she could see how much Marcus was affected by that. He was really worried for his best friend.
Alina's expression softened as she grabbed his hand. "Look...I'm not saying I don't believe you. You know Elias better than anyone else so I trust your judgment, I just don't see what could be done right now if Elias is alright. So I think we should wait, and since I'm not leaving any time soon, if you ever get any reason to think Elias might be in danger, you can call me. Any time of the day or night, I'll be there for you guys. Okay?"
Marcus nodded, holding Alina's hand with a grateful smile on his face. Even after all this time, they both knew they could count on each other, and that was the only kind of friendship Alina wanted.
After a short moment of silent, Marcus cleared his throat and took another sip of his beer. "So how come we still haven't talked about Kansas City? You know you scared the shit out of Elias and Jordan?"
Alina wasn't sure whether or not she should talk about her Empathy with Marcus. She trusted him, but she didn't want too many people to know about it. Chris was dead because of that and she didn't even know what she could do yet. It would be best to keep the secret between the Winchesters and herself.
Luckily for her, Marcus had given her a perfect diversion with the second name he'd mentioned. "Who's Jordan?"
"Oh it's my boyfriend."
Alina's smile came back instantly. "What?! You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend! How is he?! Who is he?! Wait...how did I scare him if I never even met him?"
"You met him, Fantasy. Or at least he met you. He's the doctor Elias called when you were asleep."
The young woman couldn't believe these new informations. She completely forgot about her Empathy in that moment, ready to hear about everything she'd clearly missed for the past five years in her friend's life. "You're dating a doctor? If you don't start telling me that story in the next five seconds, I'm literally gonna walk out that door and never talk to you again."
Marcus scoffed at her predictable interest. He really wanted to know more about her problem because he'd been worrying for her ever since Elias had called for Jordan's help. But she clearly felt uncomfortable talking about it, so he didn't insist. He'd be there for her whenever she'd be ready to talk anyway.
"Okay, so we met on a nasty case two years ago..."
THE NEXT DAY
Alina knocked on the boys' room door once she got back to the motel. There had been a new accident the night before, so she'd let the Winchesters handle the situation there while she'd left with Marcus to get informations from his aunt. She was married to the first victim after all.
The door opened after a few seconds, and Alina had to hide her amusement when the first thing she saw was her best friend, struggling with the tie around his neck like it was a living being. "Hiya Sammy..."
She entered the room, finding Dean wearing the same suit, having the same problem with his tie. Of course, the eldest Winchester had a completely different effect on her. She wasn't trying to hide amusement with him, she was fighting against her entire body to prevent it from showing any sign of arousal. Why did he have to be so incredibly hot in a suit?
And since the last time he'd seen Alina was right before she'd entered the room she was sharing with Marcus the night before, Dean had to stop doing what he was doing for a moment, to watch the woman with a faint smile. Falling asleep without her being in the bed with him, had been absurdly impossible. He'd spent the entire night wondering if she was alright, or if she was maybe having a nightmare again. What if she had one and he wasn't there to comfort her? What if he had one and she wasn't there to hold his hand?
But there she was now, looking as beautiful as ever when she took off her jacket, revealing the black halter-neck top that gave an amazing view of her naked shoulders and upper back when she turned to help Sam with his tie.
Dean couldn't help but check her out completely in that moment. She was wearing the same boots and black skinny pants he would probably never get tired of seeing her wear. And the most attractive detail, was the shy smile she gave him when she turned around and found out where his eyes were looking.
"Really Dean?" Sam brought him back to reality when he realized that his brother hadn't even paid attention to his conversation with Alina. "One night without Alina and you completely forget about our job?"
The young woman looked away instantly to hide her blushing face, while Dean grabbed Sam's suit jacket to violently throw it at his brother. The youngest Winchester simply smiled at the two embarrassed hunters, who'd usually be the most confident people in the room. That was fun to watch, although Alina quickly got back to her senses when she walked to Dean with a sigh, acting like that hadn't just happened. She smacked his hands away from his tie and started doing it for him, the same way she'd done Sam's.
"So as I was saying, when Marcus' aunt learned about Jimmy's death last night, she told me about one night she'd found her husband drinking alone in their living room. It was years ago so she couldn't remember it exactly, and he was so drunk he didn't even realize what he was saying either."
"What was he saying?" Dean asked, trying to stay focused on the case with Alina standing just a few inches away from him.
"Our two most recent victims' names. He said they'd done something, and that was haunting him. He sometimes had nightmares, but he never told his wife about them. Whatever happened, the three men involved all died in the exact same way."
"So this is not a coincidence." The hunter concluded once the young woman took a step away, to let him see himself in the mirror. She'd done a remarkable job, and looked really proud of it.
"Yeah..." Sam resumed, ignoring the sexual tension between the other two hunters. "And you might've been right about Cassie's mom, Alina. The Mayor clearly implied that she knew something."
Alina wasn't happy to be right about it. She would've rather be wrong about the strong feeling of terror coming from that woman. What could she be hiding? What could frighten her so much?
"Anyway, Dean and I were about to go gather some informations at the docks. We heard Jimmy used to go there a lot, you're coming too?"
Alina wanted to go with them, but one look at herself in the mirror and she knew she wouldn't match whatever lie they were planning on using with those suits.
"No I'll stay here and do some researches. You guys will be alright without me, right?"
They both scoffed at her question, until Dean saw her untying her hair in one quick motion. The waves gently falling on the bare skin of her shoulders made him look again, with the same hungry eyes as earlier. Sam noticed the way his brother was once again staring at Alina, who didn't seem to notice anything herself. How? That was so obvious.
The youngest brother rolled his eyes with a slight smirk, already walking towards the front door. "I'll be waiting in the car."
Alina sat on the dressing table under the mirror, watching her friend walking out of the room, closing the door behind him, listening to his footsteps in the hallway as he was leaving. She frowned at his sudden departure and turned to Dean. "What's wrong with him?"
Dean shook his head, trying to look as confused as her. He knew the answer but didn't want to look too impatient. He couldn't be thinking about this kind of things while they were in the middle of a job. He couldn't be thinking about this kind of things while they'd agreed not to rush into whatever was happening between the two of them. One month ago, they were still just friends, and now...
"Hello?" Alina waved her hand in front of Dean's face to make him look at her in the eyes. He hadn't even realized he was looking somewhere else. She looked so hot sitting on that dressing table with her hair down.
"What?"
Alina smiled at him. How could she resist him when he was wearing that suit? He looked so professional, so...hot. The first time she'd seen him like that, was the day after she'd kissed him outside the bar. She'd already been so turned on by that sight, but just had to convince herself that it didn't mean anything. That Dean and her were just friends.
Fortunately, she'd changed her mind on the subject and could now do whatever she wanted to do. So she reached out for his tie once again, but this time pulled it towards her to make Dean come closer and stop right in front of her. He was now standing between her legs, their faces so close that they could feel each other's breath on their lips. Alina was still holding onto his tie, looking straight into his eyes with a big grin.
"You should wear this more often, Winchester."
Dean's surprise didn't last too long as his hands slowly met the table on each side of her body to trap her completely with a mischievous smile. "Yeah?"
Alina nodded, and felt shivers all over her body when Dean's left hand grabbed her by the cheek to hold her lips against his as he was now kissing them with eagerness. Alina could've rip his jacket off of him if he wasn't about to go investigate on their current case. She could feel his second hand sliding to her back, under her top, his fingers gently brushing her skin where her tattoo was.
He was worried of her reaction to that at first, since she usually didn't want people to see her tattoo. She'd even hid it for a little while before finally showing it to him, because of how much she hated that thing bringing back so many bad memories. He was actually ready to stop touching her there so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable, but the little moan that suddenly came out of her mouth, made him go completely crazy.
He wanted her so much, so bad.
Which made it even worse when Alina's phone started ringing in the jacket she'd thrown on his bed when entering the room. The hunters pulled away from each other, gasping for air, unable to completely let go as she still had her hands on his strong chest, and he still had his on her back, softly caressing her skin when he slid them to her waist. Alina kept brushing her lips against his before she jumped off the table to get back on her feet, her body still pressed against Dean, who didn't seem pleased by that interruption. "I'm gonna smash that phone one day."
"If you smash my phone, I'll smash you, Winchester."
"Yeah that's the idea."
They both laughed as Alina walked to her jacket. The hunter sighed in annoyance, until she read the name on the tiny screen and held her breath for a second. It just had to be him. Now.
"You're not gonna take it?" Dean asked when he saw the way she was staring at the device.
"What?" Alina looked at him, trying to decide whether or not she should tell him the truth or lie to him. She didn't want him to get angry again, unfortunately, her silence was already enough to make him feel suspicious. Especially after her phone went completely silent. Alina threw it back on the bed with a big smile. "It's okay, I'll call him back."
But it was too late. She'd already said too much with those few words.
"Him?" Dean thought for a moment about her reaction at the call. It was the same embarrassed look she had on her face the night before, when Marcus had mentioned his best friend's name. "You mean Elias?"
Alina hated the way Dean was making her feel about this. She couldn't pretend her friend hadn't called her just because he didn't like the guy. "Yes Dean. It was Elias."
"Why's he even calling you?"
"I don't know. Maybe Marcus told him I was with him and..."
"And what?"
"I don't know, Dean!"
Why did he have to react like that every time? Like she was hiding something from him when all she was trying to do was to not argue with him about another man. That was ridiculous.
Dean kept staring at her, then realized he needed to leave this room before saying something he would regret. He couldn't stop himself from getting angry, but he could walk away while he still could. And Alina didn't stop him when he left and closed the door behind him without another word.
That had escalated quickly. "Shit..." Alina took a few minutes to calm herself down before she grabbed her phone and dialed back Elias' number.
LATER
The Winchesters were walking back towards the Impala after questioning the latest victim's friends. One of them had told the brothers about a string of deaths back in the '60s, all black men who had presumably disappeared in a big, nasty, black truck. Of course there hadn't been any investigation, which made the hunters' job even harder.
"So I guess all we can do now is go talk to Cassie." Sam pointed out. "See if she got anything from her mom."
"Yeah..." Dean simply replied, obviously distracted by something else than the case. And Sam already knew what was on his brother's mind.
"Maybe you should talk to Alina first."
"Yeah..." The eldest brother gave the same answer until he finally understood Sam's words and turned to him in confusion. "What? Why?"
"Really, Dean?" They both stopped near the car. "You seemed more than happy when I left you two alone in that room, but when you joined me afterwards you had that stupid serious look on your face. The one you make when you're trying to hide that you're pissed at yourself."
Dean didn't like the way his brother was so easily analyzing him, so he remained silent to keep any more clues about the situation to himself. And it got worse when Sam scoffed at his childish behavior. He couldn't believe his big brother was actually sulking right now.
"Dean, what is going on between you two? I can't help you if you don't start talking."
Dean sighed. He didn't want to admit that he did have a problem he couldn't solve with Alina, but Sam knew her. He could understand her.
"All right, so I might've overreacted with her earlier."
"Oh. Okay." Sam crossed his arms patiently waiting for his brother to continue. He wasn't surprised by that first part, but chose not to say anything about it.
"Elias called her, and I...I lost it, okay?! I mean I don't get it!"
"What? The fact that you're so jealous about her ex boyfriend while she seems to get perfectly along with Cassie?"
"Yeah!" Dean realized what he'd just agreed to and instantly corrected himself. "I'm not jealous, Sam!"
"Okay, we already had that conversation two months ago, can we just skip to the part where you admit that you're completely insecure about you relationship with Alina?"
Dean was about to protest but quickly got stopped by Sam who wasn't done yet. "I get it. You think you're not good enough for her, and working on that case makes you think she'll reject you the same way Cassie did."
Dean cringed at the last part, looking away with angry eyes. "Yeah exactly, I told her our secret, about what we do. And I shouldn't have. It was stupid to get that close. I mean, look how it ended."
Sam smiled, which made Dean frown even more. "Would you stop?!"
But his brother just kept staring at him with a big grin. How could he not?
"Blink or something!"
"You love her."
"Oh God." Dean turned to the Impala, having heard enough.
"You do, that's the reason why you're overacting. I mean she's perfect for you, she's a very good hunter, she's smart, funny, beautiful, brave, she gets all your jokes and silly references..."
"Are you done?"
He wasn't. "You guys love the same music, the same cars, the same women..."
"Okay that's it..."
"And she told me about her conversation with mom."
The mention of Mary made Dean go silent. He wasn't expecting Sam to bring her into this.
"I mean clearly, mom loved her. Dad always cared for her like she was the daughter he never had. She's so perfect for you, you're already trying to make her runaway because you're convinced that one day you'll inevitably ruin everything with her."
Dean didn't know what to say anymore. He stared at the ground, glanced at Sam, then looked back to the ground. He wanted to be mad, because of how right his brother was, but just couldn't. Especially when Sam softened his tone as he stopped on the opposite side of the Impala to finish his speech. "You know her as well as I do, Dean. She's not the type to runaway so maybe you should stop trying to make her hate you, and start...talking to her like a normal human being? That's just my advice."
And Sam got in the car before Dean could say anything, leaving him standing next to the Impala with his hand frozen on the door handle. He looked like a child who'd just been scolded by an adult, and although Sam wasn't used to see his brother being so vulnerable about a woman, it only proved how much effect Alina had on him. She really was perfect for Dean, he just needed to understand that he was just as perfect for her.
Jealous Dean…is hot. I want one.
And you know what comes after the fight…yep…the bedroom. Guys…THE BEDROOM!
And it actually took me some time to write it, so make sure to be there when part 2 comes out!
I love y'all and as usual, I hope you have a nice day/night!