Chapter Thirteen: Bros Before Hoes
Present day…
Sam POV
Dean, who was a few paces behind me, still had his hand out, looking to count at least one child on his list of kids he knew. He snapped his fingers at me, grinning proudly as he continued to point. Rolling my eyes at him, I turned, raising my brows expectantly. Honestly I was waiting for him to name someone who was a child while he was a child, or worse, dig up some random kid's name from a case we'd worked before I left for college and he barely knew.
''Okay, Lex, see there's one,'' he said, shaking his shoulders at me. ''Huh, huh? See told you.''
''Lex doesn't count,'' I told him, glancing back at the clerk who looked like he couldn't believe this was where his life had ended up. I feel you, brother, I really do. ''he's almost in College.''
''Ahh, but I knew him when he was three,'' Dean justified and I scoffed.
''Yeah, when you were a teenager!'' I said, pulling my wallet out so I was at least ready when Dean was done proving he wasn't just some childless loser and overall skeeze when it came to women. What Katie saw in him, I didn't know, but I was certain she could do better, even if I wanted the two of them to be happy together.
''This is ridiculous, me not knowing any children doesn't mean I can't like kids,'' he argued and I smirked, tilting my head to the side.
''Sure, but it makes it creepy,'' I pointed out and he frowned, brow furrowing as he noticed my point. He looked disgusted, and annoyed.
''Shut up, dude,'' he huffed and the clerk decided he'd finally lost his patience with us and stood from his spot behind the counter. He picked up the guest log and slapped it down on the countertop, loud thud echoing throughout the small office.
''Can I help you gentlemen?'' he asked irritatedly. I smiled apologetically at him.
''Two rooms please,'' I answered and Dean turned to me, looking confused.
''What do we need two rooms for?'' he demanded and then turned to the clerk, holding up a single finger. ''One room,'' he said and then lifted a second finger. ''two queens.''
''Two rooms, Dean, just go get the bags,'' I said with a sigh and he shook his head in violent protest. Throwing his arms over his chest, he looked expectantly at me.
''Who died and made you the queen of Sheba, we only need one room dude, I'm not paying for two,'' he tried to argue and I couldn't see that going over well with Katie, or Lex who'd likely be remanded to the couch, unless Dean expected us all to pile in on some weird, warped, ragtag team of hillbillies. Rolling my eyes at him, I pointed towards the door.
''I'll deal with it, go,'' I said and he stepped closer, instead of away. He pointed one finger at me, waving it as menacingly as he could. I almost wanted to laugh that this was what he thought was commanding.
''I'm not paying for two rooms,'' he warned and then walked out of the room to do exactly as I'd asked. For once. And when he found out I'd invited Katie, probably for the last time too.
Dean POV
Grumbling, I pulled the clerk's office door open and walked out onto the path, wondering why Sam thought we could just blow all our hard earned money on two rooms. It's not like I wanted to share one small motel room with my adult brother. If I could, I'd have my own room, king sized bed and those magic finger things. Back in the parking lot, I decided to wipe clean the striking out front as I noticed a cute blonde in a tight little skirt, sitting on the hood of a blue collector's car, facing some guy, chatting animatedly. Hang on a minute, collector's car, cute blonde… That some guy looked very familiar, even from this distance.
''Two rooms… Damn it Sammy!'' I mumbled to myself, spinning on my heel to march right up to him. Yanking the door open, I saw Sam taking two keys from the clerk and smiling as he walked away.
''Thank you,'' he said with an easy smile and then glanced up at me.
''Did you call Katie?'' I demanded as he ducked under my arm to walk through the door I was holding open.
''Yeah, I did. I thought this would be a good opportunity for Lex to learn the job,'' he said simply and while it was hard to argue, I absolutely did not believe him. ''Three hunters training him is better than one.''
''No,'' I said, grabbing his shoulder and spinning him. ''you tried to rat me out to my girlfriend,'' I jabbed my finger into his chest, poking him right in the sternum. ''Dude, I keep telling you, we're not dating! And even if we were, you think you're brother's fooling around, you don't snitch behind his back. Bros before hoes!''
''Who's a hoe?'' Katie said from behind me, looking between the two of us with an innocent look on her usually very cheeky face. I hadn't noticed she'd started walking up, nor that she'd even gotten off the hood of her Chevelle.
''Oh, hi Katie,'' I greeted awkwardly. She looked between me and Sam again.
''You,'' Sam answered honestly and then raised his hands in immediate surrender when annoyance crossed her face. ''his words, not mine.''
''Is this why you called me?'' she asked, glaring at him with her hands on her hips. He shrugged somewhat sheepishly, looking a little like a naughty school child.
''Sorry,'' he said, looking down as he handed her her room key. Katie sighed, taking her room key and marching back across the lot to where she'd left Lex, ordering him about like he was her valet or bellhop more so than her son. He seemed to be able to read the situation, at least enough not to push it while she was already pissy.
Sighing to myself, I tried not to let my brother's interference sour the situation any, and headed to our own room with our bags. Sam went straight to work, sitting on his laptop at the table while I made myself at home, unpacking my bag on the bed. Eventually the other two joined us, Katie taking the spot across from Sam, not actually doing much research herself, mostly in favour of shooting the occasional glare in my direction. Lex perched in the seat beside Sam, hanging over his shoulder and looking at everything he was doing. Well, at least some good can come from this situation, no matter how screwed things inevitably would be with Katie and me now, Lex could still learn the ropes.
''So there's the three drowning victims this year,'' Sam said, and I lifted my head up from where I was unrolling clothes and folding them back up again on the bed.
''Any before that?'' I asked and he nodded, not looking up from his screen.
''Uh, yeah,'' he acknowledged. ''Six more spread out over the past thirty-five years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up its pace.''
''So, what, we got a lake monster on a binge?'' I asked, tossing a t-shirt on the bed. Sam shook his head, finally looking back at me.
''This whole lake monster theory, it, it just bugs me,'' he said and I strode over to take a look at what he and Lex were looking at.
'The Lake Manitoc Tribune. 12-YEAR-OLD GIRL DROWNS IN LAKE, Second drowning in 6 months at Lake Manitoc'
''Why?'' I asked and he shook his head.
''Loch Ness, uh, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts, but here, almost nothing,'' Sam explained and Lex perked up at the mention of the big guys.
''Wait, the Loch Ness Monster is real?'' he asked excitedly, receiving a brief nod from Katie, who still hadn't said a word since she got here.
''Whatever it is out there, no one's living to talk about it,'' Sam said, flicking back to the Tribune search page and scrolling the results section of his criteria. A name peeked out and me and I pointed to it, stopping him from moving further forwards.
''Wait, Barr, Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?'' I said and Sam clicked the hyperlink pulling up the article.
''Christopher Barr, the victim in May,'' Sam said. 'LOCAL MAN IN TRAGIC ACCIDENT' it read and the picture slowly loaded to reveal Lucas wrapped in a tragedy blanket standing next to a local police officer. ''Oh. Christopher Barr was Andrea's husband, Lucas's father. Apparently he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned. Two hours before the kid got rescued.''
Sam clicked the picture, enlarging it before he brought a hand up to scratch the back of his head. That explained his behaviour earlier today, and I felt my stomach sinking as that realisation set in. A quick glance at Katie revealed the angry glare had slid right of her face and instead her features held a look of sombre, sinking dread.
''Maybe we have an eyewitness after all,'' Sam said and I sighed. Mom flashed into my mind, seeing her on the ceiling that day and Dad thrusting Sammy into my arms, sending me outside even though I desperately wanted to stay, to do something for her even though I knew I couldn't.
''No wonder that kid was so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over,'' I said and Katie shook her head, looking a little teary eyed.
''No, it isn't,'' she agreed, and I frowned, moving past thoughts of mom to realise her killing her own father had had a much larger effect on her than she let on. Damn it. I should have had her back, she got stabbed in front of me and I was just so thrown, I should have had my gun out and at the ready the whole time, I knew the situation was volatile. She shouldn't have had to do that herself. She shouldn't have had to clean it up after either.
Main POV
The sun was still warm despite it being into the afternoon now, and I relished in its ease from the slight chill the air had. Walking slowly through town and meandering over to the park, I was always at least a few paces behind the others. This whole situation was stupid, Sam didn't need our help on this hunt, I knew that as soon as I picked up the phone. He was simply being the interfering but well meaning little brother, I should have seen that coming.
While I knew Dean hadn't meant for what he'd said to come out like it had, and I honestly didn't mind him reinforcing the situation with Sam, we weren't dating, him referencing me when he used the phrase 'bros before hoes' did sting rather a lot. Of course, that's basically what I was. I was an opportunistic fuck, and nothing more. Sure, we were friends, but the sex and the friendship were separate. I couldn't let my platonic feelings get in the way of, or cloud the sex situation. When we were sleeping together, we weren't friends. We were fucking, and that was it.
That didn't change how I was feeling now. It hurt. I was a hoe, Dean saw me as a hoe. To him I was just a pair of legs he could use to rub out that itch that plagued us both so much. When we were on the job, we were professionals, and if we went to a bar or the room after, that was when we were friends. Between the sheets, we were strangers, that was it. I was a hoe. I had to learn to start compartmentalising these three things separately, or else I'd continue to keep getting hurt, and that was the last thing I wanted.
The sound of kids laughing and playing plagued my ears and I remembered the days where I used to try and take Lex to the park as often as I could. It was important for him to be able to play, to be with the other kids, and even more so, it was a good strat when interrogating townsfolk, as the concerned mother type. Sam was the first to spot this Andrea woman, and pointed us over in her direction. The four of us approached, Sam being the first to break her silence as she watched her son.
''Can we join you?'' Sam asked and she looked up at the four of us.
''I'm here with my son,'' she said, trying to keep a certain politeness to her attitude, but clearly not wanting Sam and Dean anywhere near her business right now. From what I'd heard, she'd really been through it recently, and I couldn't blame her for wanting her and her family to be left alone.
''Oh. Mind if I say hi?'' Dean said, marching off in the direction of her little boy, Lucas.
''Tell your friend this whole Jerry Maguire thing is not gonna work on me,'' Andrea said and I grinned, instantly knowing I was gonna like this chick.
''Pay him no mind, he might be a skeeze, but he's actually very good with kids. They all seem to like him,'' I assured her and then nodded to Lex who was looking incredibly bored standing there. ''Even my son, and he hates everybody.''
''I do not!'' he huffed, stuffing his hands agitatedly in his pockets, inadvertently bringing a smile to my face.
''Here,'' I said to Lex, turning and pulling out a few bills from my pocket. ''There's a food cart over there, why don't you go get some ice cream?''
''I'm not twelve,'' he huffed, taking the bills and stomping off. I chuckled as I watched him go, Andrea standing to walk up to my side. I turned back to face her and she smiled at me.
''Well, thanks. It does put my mind at ease a little,'' she said, nodding in the direction of Dean, who was just squatting down by her son. I shrugged, an easy smile on my face while I slipped my own hands into my jacket pockets, leaning back slightly.
''Hey, chicks before dicks,'' I said and heard Sam scoff almost instantly. He smiled, shaking his head as he moved to the bench Andrea had been sitting on and sat down. She followed his lead and I stayed upright, watching Dean pick up an army soldier toy and start playing with it. It was hard to stay mad at him, what with him being this cute right now. In the afternoon sun, everything seemed much brighter, easier, gentler, and I got to bear witness to his good side, his charming side.
''I don't think that's what this is about,'' Sam said in reference to his brother, being the only one to defend the guy. ''He doesn't.. He's a little concerned about Lucas, we heard about the accident, only made the connection between it and your family just now. I'm sorry.''
''It's… it's not alright exactly but… I get it. It's been hard,'' she explained and I nodded along, watching Dean as he put down the army men and picked up some paper. He sat on the bench Lucas was using as a table and started scribbling with a crayon. ''Of course it's been hard on me, on my dad, but it's been hardest on Lucas.''
''It always is, hardest on them,'' I said, nodding to Lex who was standing by the cart, glaring angrily at me as he licked the scoop of chocolate ice cream from his cone, cup of coffee in his opposite hand. Dean was holding out a picture to Lucas, pointing at different elements, although it was too far away to see what he'd drawn.
''Your son's father isn't in the picture either?'' Andrea asked and I shook my head. Although I wasn't exactly going to tell her why. Still, he'd always wanted a dad, someone he could look up to like that. Little boys needed a male influence. While you didn't necessarily need both parents to be happy, you needed a wide array of people in your life, and I'd robbed Lex of that in order to keep him safe, and it hadn't even worked.
''No,'' I confirmed, pulling my arms around myself instead of resting my hands in my pockets. I hugged myself tightly, this wasn't an easy subject to talk about, the wound was so raw. Lex and I had finished his first hunt, and then I mentioned to him about my dad's place. We'd scoured it, and after a while of doing nothing but research, he'd needed a new case to clear his head. ''He didn't take the news about his father all too well either. He's struggling with it, likes to pretend he's not, that he's a big boy. But any bad news about your parents, it's hard. They take up your whole world.''
Andrea nodded and we both watched Dean approaching the three of us, a sad expression on his face. It was likely he'd come up dry, when you're that traumatised, you don't really wanna talk. And no random stranger is going to change that. Especially not after less than ten minutes of doodling together.
''Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me. Not since his dad's accident,'' Andrea explained and Dean nodded empathetically, finally making it back to us.
''Yeah, we heard. Sorry,'' he said.
''What are the doctors saying?'' Sam asked, shaking his head. Andrea sighed, looking at the ground as she gathered her faculties before speaking.
''That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress,'' she explained.
Been there. Having a kid so young takes its toll. Sure, I'd never taken a vow of silence over the thing, but I did shut down. I didn't wanna feed, I didn't want anything to do with Lex, not originally. All I wanted was to be a kid, and while my mom had promised she'd say he was hers, that they'd raise him, I still had a lot of work to do in regards to bringing him up. I couldn't go out for long periods, and that was when I could even walk again and I recovered from the birth. How could I? Babies needed to be fed, and my parents, they had jobs. My dad had taken up most of the actual hunting, mom still had to help him with the research, and I I had to babysit. Or actually mother Lex, given he was really my son. I'd been angry, furious even.
''That can't be easy. For either of you,'' Sam said empathetically and Andrea allowed a small, bittersweet smile to cross her face.
''We moved in with my dad. He helps out a lot. It's just…'' she said and then looked down again. ''When I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw…'' she trailed off.
''Kids are strong. You'd be surprised what they can deal with,'' Dean assured her, no doubt talking about his own experience. But, that didn't stop a mother's instinct from kicking in. Parents, it's our duty to protect our children, we try to do it from everything, and when we can't, everything goes haywire. Andrea was doing a phenomenal job of keeping it together.
''You know, he used to have such life. He was hard to keep up with, to tell you the truth. Now he just sits there,'' Andrea said, glancing in her son's direction. ''Drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish…'' Lucas was beside her, holding a piece of paper in his hands. She ducked down to look at him as he kept his head down. ''Hey sweetie.''
He ignored her, holding out his chubby hand towards Dean, a piece of paper extended towards him. Andrea wore a look of confusion on her face as he slipped it into Dean's grasp. Dean was admittedly also a little confused, but hid it well, accepting the picture as he glanced between it and Lucas. He trained his eyes on the page, inspecting it thoroughly.
''Thanks. Thanks, Lucas,'' he said cheerfully. Without another word, Lucas left us for the bench, going back to whatever it was he was doing before he decided to do an art trade with Dean. Everyone exchanged glances, but no one was more surprised to see Dean's interaction with the kid pay off more than me. After a long, drawn out pause, I was the first to recover.
''Well, we should get going, leave you to your son,'' I said and turned immediately, walking over to my own boy.
Dean and Sam caught up with us, and we made our way back to the motel. Dean had his hands in his pocket and was uncharacteristically quiet. Glancing up at him, I raised an expectant eyebrow at him. He smiled a little, and I could see him trying to turn on the charm, so I knew he wanted something. Letting out a sigh, I stopped in my tracks, putting my hands on my hips.
''What is it?'' I asked and he smiled again, seemingly amused I'd seen straight through him rather than put off. Sam shuffled forwards, keeping a few paces ahead of us as we started up walking again, ushering Lex to do the same. Whatever he was suggesting, he'd run by Sam, he knew something.
''Will Carlton,'' he said and I shook my head.
''What about him?'' I asked and he put an arm around me and I just knew it couldn't be good.
''Well, when Sam and I talked to him, it hadn't been long since the funeral, we were posing as members of the wildlife department, we couldn't get much outta him,'' he explained and I groaned. ''You wanna help on this hunt, maybe Will Carlton will be more receptive to your feminine charms. Maybe talking to a civilian will help things along.''
''You want me to talk to him because I'm a chick?'' I spluttered, shaking my head. ''He's a young guy, maybe he just wants to talk to someone his own age, this could be a good opportunity for Lex to do something.''
''Nah, I don't think Lex'll fool him, he'll just see him as some kid,'' Dean brushed off my suggestion and Lex, who'd been eavesdropping this entire time, didn't hesitate to show his annoyance.
''Hey! I could do it! I'm useful,'' he protested and I glanced at him. He had a ring of chocolate ice cream drying in around his mouth and I sighed, pulling a restaurant napkin out of my pocket and speeding up slightly. Licking the corner of the napkin, I started wiping his mouth and he groaned in annoyance. ''Mom! God, you're so embarrassing.''
''Why would he want to talk to someone my age, Dean, I'm older than you, to him I'm gonna seem like some old woman,'' I argued, fighting off Lex's arms as he tried to push him away. Sam laughed as he watched the spectacle, making it first to the motel parking lot that most of our arguments seemed to happen in. Dean was seriously giving me whiplash.
''Look, he's a college kid still living at home with his dad, all I'm saying is he could probably use an ego boost right about now, so go, you know, flirt with him, show him a good time and see if you can question him while you're at it,'' Dean suggested. I glanced around seeing Lex and Sam weren't around and it was just the two of us in the parking lot now, standing against the Impala.
''Show him a good time? What, am I supposed to take him to dinner and a movie? Come on, Dean, you're being ridiculous, you just don't want me around because I'm making you feel awkward,'' I said and he sighed, shaking his head.
''No, see, this, this is a hunt. This is nothing but business, this is my job. One I take very seriously. I don't feel awkward around you, but I need you to do this because you're the best one for it. So I need you to just, you know, show him a good time,'' he explained, bringing his hand down to the one that was hanging loosely by my side. He wrapped his fingers around my palm, giving it a squeeze as he ducked down to press a sensual kiss to my lips. ''Come on, I'll make it worth your while.''
''Are you insane?'' I yelled, pulling back from him. ''Dean, I'm not sleeping with someone just because you're bad at your job, and you need me to get what you failed to in the first place.''
Pulling away from him I stormed over to the motel room Sam was most likely in, fairly sure he wouldn't have been onboard with Dean's whole plan, even if he'd known he was going to ask me to do something. Throwing the door open, I marched across the carpet, Dean just a few paces behind me. I noticed the absence of Lex, which was actually a good thing. At least if he was safe next door, it meant he wasn't witness to his idol trying to prostitute his mom. Dean's hand wrapped around my elbow as he tried to catch me, pull me back into this ludicrous conversation. There's that whiplash again.
''Katie, Katie, stop. That's not what I meant, that's not what I'm saying,'' he said and I spun, furious with him and seconds away from clocking him.
''Then what are you saying, go on!'' I barked and he pulled back, letting go of my elbow as I stepped forwards, pushing up on my toes to get right up in his face, glaring angrily.
''I'm just saying, maybe you could get something outta the guy we couldn't if you flirted with him a little bit, make him feel special,'' Dean said more quietly than I was currently being and I laughed an admittedly very crazy sounding laugh.
He'd changed his tune, what happened to show him a good time? Perhaps that was Sam's presence in the room. No one wanted to show their little brother who they really were. He'd changed since we were kids. Either that or he was trying to treat me exactly like a hoe, show me who I was to him. Maybe he was fighting off the soft squishy we'd been doing the last few times we'd seen each other. Maybe he wanted to prove he was still a lone wolf, or prove he didn't need a girlfriend, he didn't have one, but I could have told him that.
''No, you're saying you want to pimp me out, you just don't want your brother to know,'' I corrected, still furious. Stepping back, I put my head briefly in my hands before I threw my arms out. ''You know how incredibly fucked up that is? You do see that right?''
''Hey, I said you should show him a good time, flirt with him. If you sleep with the guy, that's on you. And hey, some dudes dig older chicks, what's the problem? He's legal. Give him some bragging rights with his friends,'' he said and I folded my arms back over my chest. Sam was fast approaching behind me, effectively sandwiching me between Dean and the door. I seriously doubted Dean actually wanted me to sleep with Will Carlton, but he was clearly trying to show someone something, and I didn't want to be used like that.
''Sleeping with the job, is not part of the job, Dean,'' I hissed. Dean sighed, leaning back on his heels and stuffing his hands in the leather pockets of his jacket.
''Will you just go talk to him?'' he said and I sighed.
''Fine, Sam, could you give me a ride?'' I agreed. So long as he wasn't expecting anything of me, if he only wanted me to talk to this guy, fine. I could do that. Thank god he gave up, I was about to deck him and tear up that guardianship document, even if it meant leaving to go to the court and break in to do it. ''I wanna leave Lex with the car in case he needs it.''
''Sure,'' Sam agreed, grabbing his jacket from the coat rack by the door and stepping outside with me. The door closed and I heard the latch slipping into place as we walked towards the Impala. ''Are you alright?''
''Yeah,'' I said with a sigh and he looked like he didn't believe me.
''Are you sure,'' he asked, unlocking the driver's side door. ''Things got pretty heated back there. For the record, I didn't know he was going to suggest…''
''I figured,'' I said, pulling open the passenger side and sliding across the bench seat. He slumped in and pulled his door closed with a light slam. Leaning my elbow on the window sill, I cupped the back of my head with my hand as we drove into the centre of town. ''So, about what Dean said before. Did you really call me because of Dean?''
''Sorry, he's just uh… Dean doesn't really date, he doesn't do the whole, settling down thing,'' Sam explained and I scoffed, shaking my head.
''I can see why,'' I huffed, making Sam smile a little.
''He catches tail on the road, he impersonates talent scouts and stuff to score with chicks in bars desperate to make it to Hollywood, or in a modelling career, but you… you get the job, you're nice, you're a genuine person and you're probably the best he could ever get. I just.. I don't want him to screw that up. But it seems like he kinda already is,'' Sam explained, looking pained. I sighed, glancing his way.
''Which would be sweet if we were dating, Sam, but we're not, especially not after that,'' I told him and he looked at me in shock.
''Are you serious? You're not dating?'' Sam spluttered. ''He's so different around you. He's actually a decent human being for one, - at least besides today - and not Dad's number one soldier either. Plus, he's got his eyes on you the whole time you're in the room. I just kinda assumed you were keeping it on the down low. It's clear he likes you.''
''He thinks I'm easy,'' I said laughing, shaking my head some more. ''That's why he's paying me so much attention. I slept with him one hunt, about a year or so ago. I… when you have a kid, it's really hard to get laid, it's harder still because you're on the road all the time. Dating's out in this line of work, and I'm human. I have needs just like everyone else.''
''But you're not dating,'' Sam clarified and I nodded in agreement. He seemed deeply confused by this confession, not vindicated like I'd assumed he'd be when I'd confessed Dean and I had, at least, slept together. Shaking my head at the thought of dating Dean, ignoring all that happened today, I pressed my lips together into a thin line.
''No, imagine that. On the road all the time, high stress job, in close proximity twenty four seven, no way. No one could pull that off. And neither of us are built for that kind of life. I have to move around all the time, I have to protect my son. Dean, you, you've got your demon to hunt down, your dad to find. It's not something I've ever thought about, and I don't think I ever will. I've been single for the last sixteen years. Seventeen years and the only relationship I ever had lasted two weeks on the playground while my parents were working a job,'' I explained and he laughed at the thought of myself in pigtails and holding hands with a boy, calling it dating.
''Kinda sounds like you already have,'' he commented. ''So why then, if you're not dating, would you trust Dean with Lex?''
''Lex trusts him, looks up to him. Sure, Pastor Jim, Bobby, they'd be good dads to him, but they're older, they'd be authority figures and he'd just wanna rebel. He does it to me often enough,'' I explained with a simple shrug. While I might be pissed at Dean, I knew for sure if it came down to it, he'd protect Alex with his life. ''If something ever happens to me, I want him to be taken care of, he needs to be with someone he wants to impress, someone he can follow, it's the only way to keep him out of trouble. Dean won't let anything happen to him, he's selfless in that kind of way - only that kind of way… - and Lex will listen to what he has to say.''
''Why does Lex look up to him? He's basically a carbon copy of him,'' Sam said - so he's noticed it too - and I smiled at the thought of the two of them working together while we were out on the road.
''He actually used to look like this,'' I said, pulling my wallet out and pulling out a photo of Lex at age fourteen. He was glaring at the camera, black and red bangs handing over his face and hiding one, almost both, of his eyes. ''and he hated Dean. But we worked the Goatman together, and after it was over we drove around on the run for weeks together, it… something changed in him and he just wanted to be like him. I don't think I care why, so long as it works out for him. I just wish sometimes he looked up to you, at least then he'd go to college.''
''You want him to go to college?'' Sam asked, sounding surprised as he tried to keep on the road. Conversation with me seemed far too interesting, but admired his ability not to crash as he stared solely at me.
''I want what's best for him. Not only would college let him be normal, but I thought being normal, ordinary, might keep him safe from the Demon. Looks like not…'' I said as I stared out the car windshield. Pausing when I saw the teen I recognised from the newspaper. Waving at Sam and pointing animatedly out the window, I started making seal noises. ''Wait, is that him? There he is!''
Sam pulled into the closest space and I rushed to get out of the car and follow Will Carlton into the grocery store. Jogging slightly so I didn't lose him in the isles, I slowed down to a casual walk once I spotted him just past the entrance, and slowly meandered my way around, pretending to be browsing. Dean might be giving me a headache, as well as thoughts of homicidal rage, he was right when he said this was the job. I would be professional, I wouldn't let people die because of my animosity towards my former bedmate.