"Sorry the Sacramento bus doesn't run again until tomorrow." The desk clerk informed, turning her gaze to the computer. "Five-o-five P.M."
"Tomorrow?" Sam asked. "There's gotta be another way."
"Well, there is, buy a car." Sam stared surprised at the desk clerk's lack of empathy. Instead of making anymore of a comment, Sam scoffed softly, turning away towards the slightly busy bus station. He pulled his phone out, immediately going to Dean's name but found himself hesitating.
After how they left things, Sam couldn't bring himself to call him. They-essentially-got into another fight, this one leaving Sam to wonder off on his own on the side of the road. So, yes, Sam was still a little upset about what happened, and didn't want to go crawling back to Dean. He paused, fingering hovering over the dial button on the contact, before a voice spoke.
"Hey." Sam was more than surprised to see the woman he had spoken to briefly on his way here.
"Hey." Sam replied, canceling the option and pocketing his phone. He can do this, he didn't need Dean.
"You again." The woman drawling, shifting the duffel bag near her.
"What happened to your ride?" Sam asked, recalling their last interaction.
"You were right, that was shady." She replied, shaking her hand slightly. "He was all hands." Sam nodded, glancing around the bus stop, before sighing. He wasn't going anywhere until tomorrow evening.
"What's the matter?" She asked, watching him carefully.
"Just trying to get to California." Sam answered, eyes still fixated on the time board.
"No way-" Before the sentence could finished, a voice Sam didn't know chimed in.
"Oh my god! Is that you, Sam Winchester?" Sam jolted, turning to land his gaze on an unfamiliar green haired young woman. "It is! I could recognize that face anywhere!"
"Uh, who are you?" Sam asked, as politely as he could, shifting his gaze between both women.
"Oh, you don't know me! I'm a friend of Danny's... or was a friend." The green-haired woman responded, holding a hand out. "Names Kitty."
"We were just having a-"
"Can it Meg, Sam and I have a lot to talk about." Sam jolted with a start, glancing between both of them before shaking Kitty's hand.
"Uh, I'm sorry but-"
"Listen, I know you don't know me, but I've been dying to have any form of interaction with you since I've had to deal with all of Danny's gay panic messages about you." Kitty explained, blocking Sam's view of Meg. "Look, if Danny knew I found you alone in a bus stop after everything, he'd want me to check in." She smiled, flipping a lock of hair over her shoulder.
Sam paused, glancing behind her to see Meg already moving on. He can only guess the spark he felt was nothing to her. Even if that spark did throw coal in the fire of guilt he was feeling. Instead he inhaled, turning his attention to the enthusiastic woman before him. Where was the harm in a little chit-chat?
"So, are you on vacation or something?" Sam finally asked after they settled at a table with a few bites to eat for lunch. Kitty laughed, fidgeting with one of the few braids in her hair.
"No, no." She shook her head, shifting the bottle from hand to hand. "I got into it with my boyfriend, he can be a real tool sometimes. Families no help."
"Really?" Sam asked, watching her shift slightly.
"They mean the best, but the best isn't always taking into account what you want." She shrugged, taking a drink. "Anyways! I wasn't planning on wallowing in self-pity with you!"
"It's okay." Sam smiled, meeting her blue eyes. "I had to leave those close to me... recently."
"Your brother?" Kitty asked, following up at Sam's surprised look. "I might not be as close to Danny as Tucker or Samantha was, but I knew a good bit." She offered a sly smiled, popping a fry in her mouth.
"How did you and Danny meet?" Sam asked, even if the mere mention of his name made his heartache, it would be nice to get a look into a half of the other man's life. A half of it that Sam seemed to have no clue about. Absentmindedly, Sam found his hand sliding into his pocket and toying with the small marble. All attempts to try and figure out what it was ended in dead-ends. However, Sam felt oddly connected to the strange object.
Maybe because it might be a direct link into something about Danny Sam never knew.
"OMG! It's kind of a funny story. So, my boyfriend and I got into a fight right? And to make me jealous he went out and found some girl to replace me with." Kitty laughed, shaking her head. "That girl happened to be Danny's sister, and off the bat Danny just knew Johnny was no good for his sister, and so Danny kinda patched things up between to the two of us."
"If your boyfriend wasn't any good for Jasmine, why would he be for you?" Sam asked, before he could stop himself. Instead of getting defensive, Kitty laughed.
"Oh trust me, Johnny is a piece of utter shit, but so am I." Kitty grinned, adjusting her red leather jacket. "It's complicated between us, and some people might think it's toxic, but I know when I'm in a bad position. Johnny is a surprisingly good man."
"You should always do what's best for you." Sam muttered, glancing around the area. He still can't help but feel like he didn't take his own advice.
"The scarecrow climbed off it's cross?" Sam replied surprised. Sure, getting a call from Dean so soon was a shocker, but the context of the call surprised him more than expected. He glanced briefly towards Kitty, who was dead asleep against her duffel bag. Their conversation was actually pretty good, they learned a bit more about Danny, and about themselves.
If Sam was being honest, as different as they were, he could find an ally in her.
"Hey, I'm telling you Burkesville, Indiana-fun town." Dean replied.
"It didn't kill the couple, did it?"
"No, I can cope without you. You know." Sam choose-against his immediate reaction- to not comment on the snark Dean gave him. This wasn't meant to be an argument.
"So something must be animating it." Sam thought, raking his brain for creatures. "A spirit."
"No, it's more than a spirit." Dean rebuttal. "It's a god, a pagan god, anyway."
"What makes you say that?" Sam probed, glancing to make sure he's new travel body was still asleep.
"The annual cycle of it's killing, and the fact that the victims are always a man and a woman." Dean rattled on. "Like some kind of fertility rite. You should see the locals, the way they treated this couple. Fattening them up like a Christmas turkey."
"The last meal given to sacrificial victims."
"Yea, I'm thinking a ritual sacrifice to appease some pagan god."
"Hey, this might be out on a limb, but I was wondering if you might know what this is." Sam finally brought himself to ask, placing the small marble on the floor where they sat. Kitty's eyes immediately zoomed in on it, quickly taking a seated position.
"Holy shit, where did you find this?" Kitty laughed, picking it up from the ground. "This isn't exactly something that just floats around out here."
"Dean and I ran into it on one of our hunts." Sam explained, watching Kitty closely. He didn't expect her to know what it was, but it was a pleasant surprise. "What is it?"
"Hard to tell you exactly who made it, but it's one of Frostbites' creations." Kitty explained, rolling the small piece around her palm. "Danny might have helped make it, he was Frostbites' best student, but it could also have been number of other... friends." Kitty hesitated, glancing off briefly.
"But, what is it?" Sam asked again, keeping his eyes on her. She knew, and it seemed like she knew a lot more about Danny than Sam did.
"Has Danny ever told you about Frostbite?" She asked, holding it out for Sam.
"He mentioned it briefly, when we got a house warming gift." Sam explained, fidgeting with the small bead. Kitty smiled, running a hand through her hair.
"A heart shape right? I remember Frostbite stressing over if it was good enough for you guys." She smiled fondly, and Sam couldn't help but feel relaxed around the woman. Even if he hadn't known her long, even though he felt like interrogating her, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
"Yea, it looked like it was made from the same thing." Sam nodded. "It gives off massive EMF readings." Kitty jolted for a split second, an emotion flashed through her eyes.
"What can you expect from a hunter." She gave a slightly sad laugh, tugging on the sleeves of her jacket. "Look Sam, if Danny didn't tell you, that means he was scared of how you'd react. Hunters' aren't exactly the nicest dudes around."
Sam hesitated, eyes dropping to the odd object. He knew Danny wasn't the most conventional hunter, he knew Danny had friends that were supernatural. Danny's trusted him enough to tell him the stories of different creatures he's let off without more than a warning. Those same people that Danny would call occasionally for a check in, or they would call him if they had a problem.
The thing is, he trusted Danny with every fiber of his being, which meant if Danny thought it was Safe... Sam did too.
"Kitty, I trust Danny. I can't ask him anymore, so please... give me a straight answer." Sam finally spoke, shoving the marble in his pocket. Kitty exhaled, holding eye contact for a few seconds.
"Fine, but if this comes back to bite me in the ass, I'll have yours." She glared, before her body softened. "It's ghostly ice."
"Ghostly ice?"
"Hey, our bus came in." Kitty called, shuffling the duffel bag on her shoulder, turning towards Sam. Sam, in question, pulled his phone away from his ear. He just got another voicemail.
"You better catch it." He sighed. "I gotta go."
"Go where?" She asked.
"Burkesville."
"Hold on, what?' Kitty asked, following his movements. Sam exhaled, turning to face her.
"I've been trying to call my brother for the last three hours. I'm just getting his voicemail." Sam explained.
"That's not a good sign." Kitty replied, watching him closely. "Any chance it's dead?"
"It's not like him." Sam sighed, shaking his head. "Kitty, I think he might be in trouble."
"Like, trouble trouble?" Kitty asked, glancing to check if anyone was listening. "Hunter trouble?"
"Yes, but you shouldn't miss your bus. It'll be okay." Sam watch Kitty shift, glancing around before responding.
"You gotta do what you gotta do for family." She finally responded, giving him a smile. "I'm sure Danny would be proud of you."
Sam would be lying if his heart didn't ache at the thought, or that he felt more motivated at it.
"So, I can I drop you off somewhere?"
Sam didn't expect that question, he assumed that since he showed at he hunt, Dean was expecting him to stay. He didn't, he expected Sam to ditch the moment after they were safe. After they dropped the poor girl off at the bus station. What that woman said, what Kitty said, seemed to stick with him at the moment. So, instead of agreeing, Sam shook his head.
"No, I think you're stuck with me."
"What made you change your mind?" Dean asked, stepping in front of him.
"I didn't." Sam replied, his main goal still in his mind. "I still want to find dad, and your still a pain in the ass... But Danny and mom, they're both gone. Dad is god knows where, so it's you and me. That's all that's left. If we want to see this we gotta do it together." Sam answered, watching his brother closely. After a moment, Dean finally answered.
"Hold me Sam, that's was beautiful." Sam shook his head, smacking his brother's hand away. Even as they continued to joke was they moved closer to the Impala, Sam couldn't help but smile.
As much as Dean was against chick-flick moments, the meaning of his words weren't exactly lost in his brother's reaction. It meant a lot to Dean. And part of Sam wondered where he would be in this moment if Kitty hadn't push for him to worry about family. Instead, he wanted to focus on the now.
He wanted to always have Dean's back like Dean had of his.
Sam wasn't sure he was planning to share what he learning about the marble, or-from the new found information-the ghostly ice. He was still trying to take in what he learned from Kitty at the bus station, everything. Danny had a community of ghosts on his side, that apparently Amity Park was once extremely haunted. That Danny kept the ghosts from wrecking too much havoc.
It wasn't until Danny's friends were driven away that the ghosts finally realized how much they were messing up a teenage boy's life. Things settled down, friendships were built. Danny found a family among them when his own was breaking at the seams. Frostbite was a ghostly being with an ice core.
An ice core. Which was more than enough to make it a little hard for Sam to wrap his mind around. Kitty went into depths about things ghosts can go do when surrounded with enough ectoplasm. Broke down the levels, and why most spirits they encountered had black ectoplasm rather than bright green. Which Sam wouldn't have believed with Kitty hadn't pulled out a small vial of bright green substance that gave of ridiculous levels of EMF.
So yes, Sam was planning to keep this new world of information to himself, but Dean asked. After they settled in the motel, after dinner, Dean had asked about the marble. As much as he still wasn't completely grasping the information, he couldn't help but share it.
"Sam are shitting me?" Dean asked, staring at Sam like he grew a second head. "You're taking the word of this from some random chick you found in a bus station?!"
"She knew Danny, Dean. She knew more about him than I did." Sam sighed, looking down at the marble on the table. "I learned about a new side of him I never knew about! You should have seen it, it was ectoplasm man."
"So let me get this right, ghosts have something called a core which gives them elemental powers? And if you supercharge one with 'green' ectoplasm, they suddenly turn into bad cartoon villains? Did I get it all?" Dean scoffed, shaking his head. Sam glared at his older brother.
"Is it really that hard to believe? You saw mom, she looked more human than ghost, she glowed Dean, she glowed." Sam reminded, only to get a look from his brother. "And how many ghosts have we seen that dealt with electricity, or fire, or water?"
"Because that's how they died, Sammy. Ghosts aren't complicated. Not like this."
"Dean, just listen to me." Sam growled, shooting up from the bed. "Just try and believe this for now, if I can't find a lead, or proof, then you're right."
"Fine." Dean finally caved, watching the desperation in his brother's eyes. "But when you come to your senses, I expect pie."