Author's Note: Hello, everyone. I hope you are all doing well. I'm rather please with the fact that I managed to find time to write and get this chapter published rather quickly – or at least rather quickly for me. I've had parts of it in my head since I decided to bring Alex into the story. This chapter also begins the set up for something I think you'll enjoy. I still have a few things to figure out – namely whether Cas or Crowley (maybe both?) are going to make an appearance.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please post a review or send me a message. I love hearing from my readers.
CHAPTER 25
Krissy heard the rumble of the Impala's engine from where she sat at the kitchen table. She glanced up from the game she was playing on her phone and grinned. She had grown tired of her own company and wanted other people around - even if it was Sam and Dean. She couldn't believe how much she had actually missed them.
She stepped out onto the porch just as the Impala drew to a stop in the driveway. She watched as the two men exited the vehicle and grabbed their duffels from the trunk. She could tell from the way they were moving that they were both exhausted, and it made her wonder what they had done in Nebraska.
Dean reached the porch first. When he got to where Krissy was standing near the open door he dropped his bag and pulled her into a hug. "I missed you, kiddo," he said quietly as he dropped a quick kiss onto the top of her head before letting her go.
Krissy stared after him for a moment, a little surprised by the ready affection. She'd barely had time to process it before she found herself enveloped in Sam's embrace. He hugged her tight for several seconds before letting her go and allowing her to step away from him. She couldn't help but wonder if Jody had said something to them while they were hunting. They'd not shown that kind of spontaneous affection for her before.
She was still working through that in her mind when Sam dropped a hand on her shoulder and started guiding her toward the door. "Anything interesting happen while we were gone?"
"You mean other than that video?" She still hadn't watched it, as she'd decided to wait for Sam and Dean. But, she was curious about it.
Sam laughed. "Yeah, other than the video."
Krissy shrugged. "No. I was bored to tears. I found some crappy tv show that wanted you to believe that vampires are supposed to be all hot and sexy. I was so bored I even worked ahead in my geography class. I shouldn't have to do any homework in that class for three or four weeks."
"You didn't leave the house, did you?" Dean asked before Sam could respond to what Krissy had said. He ignored his brother's glare as he studied Krissy's face.
She immediately bristled at his accusatory tone and started to say something sarcastic in response. A tingle in her backside warned her about how ill-advised responding that way would be. "No, Dean, I didn't go anywhere. I seriously thought about going for a walk a few times, but I decided to be lazy and sit around eating junk food and watching tv instead."
"Good girl," Dean responded, completely tone deaf to the effect his question had had on Krissy. "Keep it up, and you'll prove we can trust you to stay on your own if we need to leave you behind while we go on a hunt."
Sam glared at his brother before turning to look at Krissy. "Did you find out anything more about that video your friend sent?"
Krissy gave him a small smile to show she was grateful for the change of topic. "Zoe texted me a couple of hours ago asking if I had watched it yet. I haven't responded to her." She paused in the door to the den and turned to look at him. "I wanted to wait to watch it with both of you."
Sam nodded. "Good idea. Why don't you email it to me, and I'll run it through a virus scan and check it for any nasty surprises, then we can take a look at it."
"Surprises?" Krissy looked up from her phone.
"Yeah," Sam nodded as he pulled his laptop out of the backpack he'd carried into the den. "Maybe I'm being paranoid, but it's rather suspicious as to why Zoey would send that video to you and ask if it's us in it. There has to be something more than curiosity behind it."
Krissy's eyes widened. She had thought that it was weird that Zoey had sent the video to her, but she hadn't considered that there could have been anything bad behind it. "What do you think is going on?" She tapped the button to send the video to Sam.
"I don't know," Sam admitted. "But, I don't want to take any chances. Dean and I learned a long time ago there's no such thing as coincidence when it comes to the supernatural."
He activated the custom-made file scanner Charlie had written for him and triggered it to scan the video. He schooled his features and didn't say anything when the program identified a sophisticated tracer embedded in the video's code. He stripped the tracer off the video and stored it in an isolated cache. He had a gut feeling that it would lead back to someone other than Zoe. He debated with himself whether he wanted to alert Krissy to the potential issue or wait until he had more information about what might be going on.
"Okay," he finally said after the program finished running. There were a couple of other things that were found in the scan. Those, too, had been pulled from the video's code and isolated. He would send the original video and the code he'd pulled out using the program to Charlie and ask her to dig into it. In the meantime, he was sure the video was now safe to watch. "Let's see what this shows."
He waited until Krissy and Dean sat on either side of him on the couch. He balanced the laptop on his knees so they could see the screen as well and pulled up the video. It looked like it had been posted on You Tube, and contained a description that said it was lost footage from the Ghost Facer's original pilot episode. There were some viewer comments, but they ignored those for the moment.
Sam hit the play button, and a grainy, dark video began playing. Krissy didn't recognize the other three people in the video, not that she could see their faces well due to the poor quality of the footage. In fact, if she hadn't been looking for Sam and Dean, she wouldn't have recognized them. They were largely in shadow on the periphery of the conversation that was taking place, and mostly turned away from the camera. The video was short, only about ten minutes long, with someone talking at the end about how they had found it online and argued that it proved the fan theory that Alan Corbett had died during the investigation rather than choosing to leave the group, as was claimed by the other members.
"How could Zoe have known that was you?" Krissy asked, confused. "I could barely recognize you, and I was looking for you."
Sam shook his head. "I don't know." He closed the video and shut down his computer. "Give me your phone, Krissy. I want to delete that video and make sure there is no trace of it left."
Krissy pulled her phone out of her pocket and put in her PIN before handing it over to him. "What's going on?"
"I don't know," Sam admitted. "The program I ran the video through found tracer code. It pulled the code out and isolated it, so the video was safe to watch. If you'd watched it on your phone, whoever put that code in the video would be able to trace you to wherever that phone is located."
"What the hell?" Dean asked angrily. "Who put the code there, and how did Zoe get that video? All of the footage from that hunt was supposed to be erased."
Sam shrugged. "I don't know the answers to any of that. From what I can tell, those tracers are sophisticated. I'm going to send the information to Charlie and ask her to look into it. Maybe she can track them back to the source." He sighed. "Until then, I want you to be really careful when talking to your friends. I don't know how Zoe is involved in this. She may be an innocent, or she may be in it deep. And, you can't know at this point if anyone else is involved."
Krissy nodded. The thought that the people she had already come to think of as friends could be involved in the supernatural, or, even worse, hunting her adopted uncles for some unknown reason scared her.
"So, what do I tell Zoe if she asks me about that video?" Krissy asked as she stared at the frozen frame of the video on Sam's computer. "I'm pretty sure she's not going to forget about it."
Sam noticed Krissy staring at the image and closed the machine before leaning forward to place it on the coffee table. "Tell her you watched it, but you couldn't see the faces well enough to be able to tell whether it was us or not. You could also tell her that you asked about it, and we told you it wasn't us." He paused to give her a minute to think about what he'd said. "If she still tries to push you about it, let me or Dean know.
He started to order her to tell him everything Zoe said about the video, but Dean's phone rang, halting any further discussion. He glanced at the caller ID and quickly answered it. "Hey, Jody."
"Hey, Dean. Did you guys make it home okay?"
"We've been back about half an hour or so. Everything is good here," he responded easily. The video wasn't something the sheriff needed to worry about.
Jody sighed in relief. Given Krissy's history, she'd half expected to hear the Krissy had done something to get herself into trouble. "That's good,"she responded.
After a moment of silence she continued, "Alex and I are about fifteen or twenty minutes out. I thought I'd stop and pick up pizza for dinner. I'm too tired to cook."
"Yeah, pizza sounds good," Dean responded as he glanced in Sam's and Krissy's direction and spotted their nods of agreement.
"We're out of soda. So, she may want to stop and get some," Krissy commented quickly. She'd been reduced to drinking water and coffee after she'd consumed the last can of cola the previous afternoon.
"Krissy says you may want to pick up some soda. Apparently, she drank it all," Dean said with a grin in Krissy's direction. "Guess that's what happens when we leave a teenager home alone for a few days. They drink all of the good stuff." He easily caught the throw pillow Krissy had thrown in the direction of his head as she'd moved to sit in a nearby arm chair. "We'll see you when you get here. Be careful."
Dean disconnected the call and stood to stretch. He really wanted a hot shower, but he figured they were going to need to have a conversation first. "Jody and Alex are about fifteen or twenty minutes out. They're going to stop for pizza on their way through town."
"Who's Alex?" Krissy asked. She'd known some of the details of the hunt the three adults had been on, but not all of them.
"You know we were here to help Jody with a vampire situation," Sam said. It was more a statement of fact than a question.
"Yeah."
Sam nodded in acknowledgement of her statement. "She's about your age," he responded. "And had been kidnapped by a vamp when she was a young child. Since then, she has been used by the nest as a blood slave and as bait to lure victims for the vamps to feed on." He paused for a moment. "She ended up in one of Jody's cells, and she figured out what was going on. We took care of the vamps who had Alex here. Then Jody took her into protective custody at a hunter's cabin a few hours from here, while we went to Nebraska to take out the rest of the nest."
"So why's she coming here?" Krissy asked.
"She's going to be staying with Jody for a while. Jody did some looking, and Alex's parents are both deceased, and she didn't have any other family that she remembers."
Sam had watched Krissy's face as Dean had spoken and hadn't missed the flash of jealousy that showed in her eyes before she had been able to school her features. He knew the teenager had grown close with the sheriff, and had worried about how Krissy might react to adding Alex to the mix. "She's been through a rough time and has a lot of adjusting to do," he commented, not bothering to try to disguise the warning in his voice. He knew Krissy well enough to feel like he needed to give her a warning. "I don't want to hear you giving her a hard time about any of this. You understand me?"
Krissy flopped back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. In her opinion, anyone who would willingly work for vampires deserved a hard time. "Yeah," she responded shortly, not at all happy with Sam's statement.
"Try that again," Sam directed, his voice taking on a serious note.
"Yes, sir," she responded, not bothering to look up at him.
"You'd better," Dean commented. "Because you run your mouth and if Sam doesn't bust you, I will."
Krissy wondered how her pleasure in having Dean and Sam back at Jody's had so quickly turned to resentment.
Dean eyed her as he stood. "I'm going to go take a shower before Jody and Alex get here." He shared a look with Sam. At his brother's nod, he continued, "Get your stuff together. We're going to head back to the bunker after we eat." He and Sam had discussed returning to the bunker that night rather than waiting until in the morning so Alex would feel more comfortable settling into her new home.
XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX
Krissy tossed her duffel into the trunk of the Impala and slammed the lid closed just as Jody pulled into the driveway. She stayed where she was and watched as Jody climbed out of the vehicle and reached in to take two pizza boxes from the teenage girl sitting in the passenger seat.
Jody placed the boxes on the hood of her SUV and turned to Krissy. "Come on, give me a hug," she commanded. When the teenager stepped into her embrace she held her tightly for a moment before stepping back. "Things go okay here?" Jody asked. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Alex getting out of the vehicle.
Krissy shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." She watched as a dark haired teenage girl got out of Jody's SUV and moved to stand by the side of the vehicle. She assumed this was the Alex she'd been told about. Deciding to ignore her for the moment, Krissy turned back to Jody. "I stripped and remade the beds we used since we're heading home after we eat, and I didn't know which room you'd want her to use. I put everything in the wash." Krissy's snarky emphasis on the word her wasn't missed by either Jody or Alex.
Alex leaned against the side of the SUV and crossed her arm over her chest. "Don't put yourself out or anything," she said just loud enough to be heard. There was no mistaking the sarcasm and attitude behind the words.
"I didn't do it for you," Krissy replied tartly as she moved past them and grabbed the pizza boxes before heading toward the house.
Jody sighed in frustration. She'd hoped the girls would get along as they could both use a friend. But, she supposed it shouldn't be all that surprising that they were antagonistic toward each other. After all, they been on opposing sides of the supernatural fight, and Alex wasn't quite mentally ready to accept that she had been a victim of that nest of vampires.
"Come on," she said to Alex as she draped an arm around her shoulders. "Let's go eat. We can take our stuff into the house later." They had taken time on their trip back from the cabin to stop and pick up some clothes and other essentials for Alex, as she'd basically had only the clothes on her back.
Sam stepped out onto the porch as Krissy climbed the steps. He took the pizza boxes from her and held them balanced on one arm while he draped the other one around Krissy's shoulders. He gave her a quick squeeze, and she wasn't sure if it was meant as encouragement, a warning, or a mix of both. Regardless, she looked up at him and gave him a small smile to acknowledge the gesture.
"Hey, Jody, Alex," he greeted the others as they entered the porch. "Your trip home go okay?"
"Yeah," Jody responded, "it went fine. You sure you have to leave so soon?"
Sam inclined his head toward Krissy, who was still tucked under his arm. "This one needs to get back to her school routine. She's already behind." He left it at that, not wanting to say that they wanted to give Jody and Alex time to adjust to each other without the stress of added people in the mix.
"It's your decision, but I wish you'd reconsider," Jody said, patting Sam's shoulder as she passed him. "It's a long trip to the bunker. You could make it tomorrow after you've had some rest." She knew what the Winchesters were trying to do, and she appreciated it. But, her maternal side wanted to spend the night so they were well-rested before setting out on their trip.
Sam nodded in silent acknowledgement of her statement. "Let's go eat before this pizza gets cold," he said and waited for Jody and Alex to precede him into the house.
A few minutes later, they were all gathered around the kitchen table devouring slices of pizza. The silence as they ate was slightly uncomfortable, as if everyone sensed the tension between Krissy and Alex and no one really knew quite how to start a safe topic of conversation.
"So, Krissy, how is school going?" Jody finally asked, thinking that might be a safe topic.
Krissy shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Most of it is pretty boring. Most of my classes are the same ones I took last year, so I'm not learning anything new." She immediately regretted saying it, as she had momentarily forgotten that she needed to be on guard against Alex.
Alex, though, saw her opportunity. "So, not only are you just a wannabe hunter, you're stupid, too?"
"Better that than a fucking vampire whore."
Alex rose to her feet. "You fucking bitch."
"Enough!" Sam demanded as he threw his napkin onto his plate and stood so quickly that his chair tumbled over backward. "Alex, sit down," he ordered.
She wanted to say something, but the look on Sam's face clearly warned her that he would not put up with any disobedience. She glanced first at Dean and then at Jody and saw anger on both adult's faces. "Fine," she responded as she sat heavily in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest.
The moment Alex sat down, Sam grabbed Krissy by the upper arm and dragged her out of her chair. Without a word, he hauled her out of the room.
XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX
"You want to tell me what the hell you were thinking," Sam demanded as he sat on the couch in the den and pulled Krissy to stand in front of him.
"Not really," Krissy responded.
"Do it anyway. I want to understand why you thought saying anything like that would be acceptable."
Krissy shrugged. "She started it."
"And one of us would have handled it. You should have known that." Sam was slightly confused at her answer.
"Did I?" Krissy asked. "You told me that I couldn't give her a hard time, but apparently nobody told her the same thing."
Sam just shook his head in disbelief. "Whether or not she was told to behave is irrelevant. I know your father wouldn't have let you get away with talking to someone like that, and neither will I. The reason behind it doesn't matter." He watched as she averted her gaze and knew the minute she accepted what he had said. "You know she intentionally baited you to see what would happen, don't you? You have an established relationship with Jody, and Alex doesn't know yet how she's going to fit into that dynamic."
Again, Krissy shrugged. "I guess."
"That still doesn't excuse what you said to her." Sam's voice took on a stern tone, and he pulled her to stand beside his right knee.
Krissy had been in that position often enough to know exactly what he intended to do. "Sam, please. I'm sorry."
"I'm sure you are," he responded. "But the fact remains that what you said is unacceptable." He pulled her over his knees and secured her in place before tossing her long t-shirt up to the small of her back, leaving her backside covered in thin cotton leggings. "Now, tell me why you're getting this spanking."
"Sam, please," she begged again, knowing full well that it wouldn't help.
His response was to land a hard slap to the middle of her backside. "Why are you getting this spanking? Don't make me ask again," he warned.
"I was rude to Alex and said something I shouldn't have."
Several hard slaps landed on her backside and sit spots. She cried out in pain with each one. She counted a dozen swats and was a little surprised when Sam stopped and pulled her up to sit on his lap.
"I know you were provoked, but you've got to learn to let things like that slide off your back," Sam said as he hugged her close. "Learning to control your temper is a vital life skill."
"Yes, sir," Krissy responded through her remaining tears.
He patted the side of her thigh. "Okay, go splash some cold water on your face, then we'll head back to the kitchen. I expect you to apologize to both Alex and Jody."
Krissy slid off his lap. Her face reddened with embarrassment when she realized that Jody and Alex likely heard her being spanked. She was too preoccupied with the assault on her backside to notice if any sounds were coming from the kitchen, but she hoped Alex hadn't gotten away with what she'd said. That thought caused a feeling of resentment to resurface, but her throbbing butt made her tamp it back down. She reminded herself that they were leaving as soon as they finished eating. She could put up with being in the same room as Alex for that long. "Yes, sir," she responded to Sam as she headed for the door, giving him no hint of the thoughts that were passing through her head.
XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX
Alex stared after Sam's and Krissy's retreating backs. She was a little shocked at how the younger Winchester had reacted. When she looked at the remaining adults, she saw disappointment on Jody's face and unmistakable anger on Dean's.
She flinched when the first sound of a hand delivering a hard slap to a thinly clad backside and the resulting cry of pain echoed down the hallway. That slap was soon followed by several more.
Dean tossed his half-eaten slice of pizza onto his plate. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear to you, little girl," he said in a hard voice. "The only reason you aren't getting your ass busted right along with Krissy is that you're new here, and I doubt you've been taught any better than to behave that way." He glanced at Jody to see how she was reacting to his statement. At her subtle nod, he continued. "This is your one and only reprieve. Next time I hear you talk to anyone like that, I will bust your butt."
"You don't have any right to do that," Alex commented. She was a little shaken at his words.
"I'm afraid he does," Jody said. The firmness in her voice drew Alex's attention more than her words did. "Sam and Dean are family. That family includes you. Because we're family, either one of them can step in to discipline you as they see fit – just like I can with Krissy." Jody paused to allow Alex a moment to absorb what she just said. "That aside, that kind of behavior is not acceptable." The sound of the spanking happening in the other room rose in volume for several seconds before stopping. "You and I are going to talk about what is and is not appropriate behavior later. But, for now, when Krissy and Sam return to the kitchen you are going to apologize to her for what you said."
Alex nodded. "Okay."
"Hey," Dean said sharply before Jody could comment. "The correct answer is 'yes, ma'am.'"
Alex met his gaze for a moment before looking away. This was not a fight she wanted to pursue, as she knew she'd lose. "Yes, ma'am," she repeated quietly.
Several minutes passed in awkward silence before Sam and Krissy returned to the kitchen. Sam glanced around the table as he reclaimed his seat. The look he received from Dean silently told him that a serious conversation had occurred while they had been in the other room, and Alex was far from happy about what had been said.
Krissy sighed when she approached her chair. She really didn't want to sit on the hard wooden surface. She swiped at the lingering tears and sent a pleading look in Sam's direction, hoping he would allow her to take her leftover pizza to the center island to finish eating. He shook his head and pointed to the chair. She stifled a groan and a wince as her very sore backside made contact with the seat of the chair.
"I believe you have something you need to say," Sam commented drily as he picked up his napkin and returned it to his lap. He watched her expectantly as he took a bite of the slice of pizza he'd left on his plate.
Krissy kept her gaze planted on her plate as she picked at the pepperoni on the half slice of pizza that lay there. "I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it, and I won't say anything like that again." She refused to look at Alex, but she did glance up at Jody and saw the forgiveness in the other woman's face. A weight felt like it had lifted off her shoulders. She didn't care about Alex, but she'd hated the fact that Jody might think differently of her.
"Alex," Jody said after Krissy returned her gaze to her plate. "I believe you have something to say as well."
Alex snorted. "Yeah, sorry."
"You can do better than that," Jody directed. When Alex didn't say anything further, Jody sighed. "Let me rephrase that. I expect you to do better than that. Or do I need to take a page out of Sam's book?"
Alex shook her head. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have said what I did."
Jody sighed in relief. She would have followed through with her threat, but she was very relieved that she didn't have to do it – at least this time. "You two are going to be spending time together in the future. I suggest you find a way to work out your differences and get along. Otherwise, you're both in for a hard time."
"Yes, ma'am," Krissy responded immediately, earning a nod of approval from Jody. She knew from experience that it was easier to agree than to fight. Plus, the hard looks on Sam's and Dean's faces warned her exactly what she could expect if she did anything else. She bit back a sense of smug satisfaction when those hard gazes fell on Alex.
"Alex?" Dean demanded.
"What?"
"Acknowledge what Jody said to you."
She looked at Jody and then at Dean. Seeing the seriousness of their expressions, she sighed. "Yes, ma'am," she said echoing Krissy's response.
Yeah, this was going to be fun, Dean thought as he wiped his mouth with his napkin before sitting back in his chair. At least the girls would be apart for a while and could come to terms with Alex's new place in their family.