The Benders

My sheriff outfit was finally being put to use. I felt solid in the outfit, all strapped up with guns and knives with no need to hide my weapons. Dean looked awesome too. This must be why people loved roleplaying with their lovers. Cause he looked hot.

"I know you're just doing your job," I snapped my head back to reality. We were here on a job. Be professional. I straightened out my back some more. "but the police have been here all week already. I don't see why we have to go through this again." Mrs. McKay sighed. "The more he tells the story, the more he believes it's true."

"Mrs. McKay, we know you spoke with the local authorities." Sam said gently.

Dean nodded along. "But, uh, this seems like a matter for the state police, so…"

"Hey, Evan," I knelt down to the boy's height. "Just tell us what you saw."

"I was up late, watching TV. When I heard this weird noise." said the little boy.

"What did it sound like?" Sam asked.

"It sounded like… a monster."

The mom, Mrs. McKay sighed. "Tell the officers what you were watching on TV."

"Godzilla versus Mothra."

Dean's lips ticked up into a smile. "That's my favorite Godzilla movie." Of course he was excited about the movie. "It's so much better than the original, huh?" His excitement was endearing though.

"Totally." the kid smiled slowly.

"Yeah." Dean grinned at me and Sam. "He likes the remake."

I tapped Dean's boot with mine, while Sam glared at the man. Dean's smile slowly fell from his face and he almost looked upset at us bursting his bubble.

Sam asked next. "Evan, did you see what this thing was?"

"No. But I saw it grab Mr. Jenkins. It pulled him underneath the car." Evan said softly.

"Then what?"

"It took him away." the boy shuddered. "I heard the monster leaving. It made this really scary sound."

"What did it sound like, Evan?"

"Like this… whining growl."

Sam gave me a look at the answer. We most likely had a case here.

"Thank you so much for your time." I said to the worried mom. I watched as Dean high fived the kid.

"Thank you," Sam muttered. And the three of us went back to our rides.

Sam's head was buried in a pile of files and folders, lifting up momentarily to flip a page before ducking back under again. He sipped at his beer while I swirled my coffee in its cup. My laptop lay on the table glaring against my eyes in the darkness of the dive bar. My glasses were doing little to ease the strain on my eyes, but I lived on the internet. Dean's occasional dart hitting its mark kept us company amongst the buzz of the other guests at the bar.

"So, local police have now ruled out foul play. Apparently, there are worse signs of a struggle." Sam noted.

"Maybe it's just a regular kidnapping?" I finished scrolling through the page I was on. "I don't think we have a case here. The kid probably just got confused with the monsters on TV and the sight outside. Trauma and all that."

"Yeah, maybe not. Except for this–" Sam spun John's journal to me. "Dad marked the area," Dean leaned over my shoulder to look at the journal. I could feel the heat radiating off his body, he was so close. "Possible hunting grounds of a phantom attacker."

"Why would he even do that?" Dean questioned.

"Well, he found a lot of local folklore about a dark figure that comes out at night. Grabs people, then vanishes."

I made a quick search. "Lowkey you might be right." I tried to ignore Dean's hand right next to my shoulder, resting his weight on the back of my chair. "This county has more missing persons per capita than any other in the state."

"That is weird." Dean muttered.

"Yeah." Sam nodded.

"Don't phantom attackers usually snatch people from their beds?" Dean stood up, but his hand remained on my chair. "Jenkins was taken from a parking lot."

"Well, there are all kinds." Sam started listing possibilities. "You know, Springhill Jacks, phantom gassers. They take people anywhere, anytime. Look, guys, I don't know if this is our kind of gig either."

"We could ask around tomorrow morning." I swallowed the rest of my coffee.

"Right." Sam pulled out his wallet. "I saw a motel about five miles back."

Dean immediately protested. "Whoa, whoa, easy. Let's have another round."

"We should get an early start." Sam stood up anyway.

Dean scoffed. "Yeah, you really know how to have fun, don't you, Grandma?" Dean placed a hand on my shoulder. "How many times does Sharon dress up, anyway? Black miniskirt and red sleeveless bodysuit?" Dean whistled. His hands trailed further down to my bare arms. "You can go back on her bike or something. Get us a, no make that two, rooms."

I felt my cheeks heating up. I did feel like hanging out today. It had been a whirlwind of a past few days, trying to keep Sam's mind off of what was happening to him. Dean and I had definitely earned some time.

Sam gave an indignant huff. "Fine. But don't stay out too late." His eyes softened when they landed on me. "Don't push yourself."

I passed him my keys with a smile. "Thanks, Sam. Goodnight."

"G'night." he walked away while still slipping on his jacket.

Dean pulled me up and walked me to the bar. I grabbed my purse before I forgot it and took a spot right next to him. Our shoulders brushed against each other's and Dean called over the bartender.

"Beer." he said and then pointed to a fancy looking margarita. "And whatever mocktails you have. Make it a surprise for the lady."

A man sat on my other side and I brushed my hair over my neck, hiding myself from him. Dean's arm settled behind my stool, as a way to signal everyone to stay off both of us.

"Should we have let him go?" Dean whispered to me.

I tensed a little bit. Surely he would be fine, right? I couldn't think of anything important that happened. Things were pretty chill until Meg showed up again, and I was pretty sure she didn't show up like this. "I think so." I shrank further against my husband when the man next to me shoved his elbow in my space.

"You gotta claim your own space." Dean muttered but shifted so I could move away from the man. He didn't seem to be interested in me at all. Just a little too drunk to actually realise he was being rude. "He's a big guy." Dean said, more for himself than for me. But it gave me some comfort too. "He knows how to defend himself. He's strong."

"And smart." I added. "He's smarter than us both combined."

"Well I disagree with that." He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "The smartest one is sitting right next to me." His eyes flickered down to my chest. "And pretty one."

"Pretty?" I leaned in a little more to give him a better view.

"Sexy." Dean's face had gone blank from lust. "That is called sexy."

I felt the heat in my cheeks from all the flirting. That was about all the flirting I could do without wanting to bury myself.

"One beer. One surprise mocktail." the bartender slid over our drinks.

I squinted at my drink.

"No alcohol. I watched." Dean said gently.

I wasn't sure if it was the atmosphere or if my drink was spiked or if I was just too sleepy to think before I spoke, but I was feeling bolder than usual. "You sure?" I batted my lashes. "Cause you seemed a little distracted."

His jaw clenched and his hand trailed from my back to possessively gripping my waist. "How else do I react to such a babe?" Before I knew it, he was taking a sip out of my drink. "No alcohol."

I swatted his hand away from my drink when he tried to take another huge sip. "My drink."

He smirked. "My woman."

Cheesy. "My man."

Even more cheesy. I was definitely too sleepy to be acting like this.

One round later, Dean was pulling me off my stool and guiding me out. "Alright, come on."

I groaned. "But Dean, I'm not sleepy! See? I'm awake!"

"And you're acting so drunk some other dude thought you were actually drunk and tried to hook up with you."

I frowned. "He wasn't trying to hook up with me. No one wants to hook up with me other than you. He just wanted my number."

"Right. Cause he is an actual recruiter from a TV entertainment agency and you actually have enough social energy to be on TV."

"Hey! I was on TV when I was in elementary school!"

Dean zipped up my half worn jacket. "Sure, sweetheart. Come on now."

I puffed out my cheeks. He didn't believe me, did he? Jerk. Then I spotted something I wasn't expecting. "Dean, Sam didn't take my bike. Did he take Baby?"

"He doesn't have the keys." Dean dangled his keys in front of my bike. "Where's Sammy?"

Maybe the younger Winchester was hiding to spite me and his brother.

"Sam! Sam!" Dean yelled. But no response. He grew frantic. "Sam! Sammy!"

No answer. Oh my God. "Sam!" I called out too. "Sam, where are you!"

"Dad's journal." Dean whispered and rushed over to the Impala. John's journal lay on top. "Sam."

We shouldn't have left him alone. This was all my fault. Sam. "Dean, we need to find him."

"Not shit." He wrenched his car door open. "Come on. We'll get your bike some other time."

I nodded. "Okay," Sam was more important than some stupid bike. Besides I'd chained her to the bike rack. She wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

"We have to find him." Dean repeated as he rapidly backed out of the parking spot. "How did this happen?"

I clutched my jacket tighter around myself. "I don't know. We shouldn't have left him."

One sleepless night later we were back in our sheriff outfits, just one sheriff down, talking to a real sheriff, who was looking at us with all the skepticism possible.

Kathleen, as her name badge read, sat down in her office. "So, what can we do for you, Officer Washington? Officer Laren?"

"We're working a missing persons." Dean started.

Kathleen raised a suspicious eyebrow. "I didn't know the Jenkins case was being covered by the state police."

"Oh, no. No, there's someone else." Dean leaned forward. "Actually, it's my cousin. My partner and I were havin' a few with him last night at this bar down by the highway. And neither of us haven't seen him since."

"Does your cousin have a drinking problem?"

"Sam? Two beers and he's doin' karaoke." Dean joked.

Kathleen cracked a smile.

"He wasn't drunk though." I said. "He was taken for sure."

"Alright." Kathleen turned to start typing on her computer. "What's his name?"

"Sam." Dean said. I could see his leg starting to tense under the table.

"Samuel Winchester." I corrected. "His full name."

"Like the rifle?"

"Like the rifle."

"Samuel Winchester." Kathleen read.

"Well, he's not showing up in any current field reports."

Oh my God. Sam. Why hadn't I insisted on tagging along with him.

"Oh, I already have a lead. I saw a surveillance camera by the highway." Dean said. I hadn't even noticed the camera.

"Uh-huh. The county traffic cam?"

"Right. Yeah. I'm thinking the camera picked up whatever took him. Or, whoever."

"Well, I have access to the traffic cam footage down at the county works department, but…" she sighed. "Well, anyhow, let's do this the right way." She stood up to get out some paperwork from a cabinet behind her. "Why don't you fill out a missing persons report and sit tight over here?"

Of course. Paperwork. Of course they were gonna take the slow route.

Dean forced a dry chuckle. "Officer, look, uh, he's family. I kind of– I kind of look out for the kid. You gotta let me go with you."

"I'm sorry. I can't do that." Kathleen stood her ground.

Dean switched tactics. "Well, tell me something. Your county has its fair share of missing persons. Any of 'em come back?" Kathleen froze and her expression clouded with sadness. "Sam's my responsibility. And he's comin' back. I'm bringin' him back."

"Greg, Ariana."

Dean and I looked up at the call of our fake names.

"I think we've got something." Kathleen passed us a few printouts. "These traffic cams take an image every three seconds, as part of the Amber Alert program. These images were all taken around the time that your cousin, Sam, disappeared."

Dean and I flipped through them.

"This really isn't what I'm looking for." Dean muttered.

"Just wait, wait– next one. Oh, she has it."

I pulled out one particular picture. "This one was taken right after Sam left the bar. Look at the back end of that thing." It was a rusty dusty old van. "Now, look at the plates."

I squinted. What was I supposed to be looking for?

Dean put his finger on the license plate. "Oh, the plates look new. It's probably stolen."

Oh. Now I felt dumb. But what if they just got a new license plate cause the other one was rusty dusty? Or maybe they bought an old scrap car?

Kathleen nodded. "So, whoever's driving that rust bucket must be involved."

The struggling whine of a rickety old engine right outside the police station had us all looking outside.

"I'll be damned." Dean said to himself as the same rickety old van from the picture drove past. With my bike in the back.

"So, Gregory, Ariana." the sheriff said from the front.

"Yeah?" Dean hummed nonchalantly.

"I ran your badge numbers." Oh shoot. "It's routine when we're working a case with state police. For accounting purposes and what have you."

Her eyes were accusing when she looked at us from the rearview mirror. We had been caught, hadn't we?

"And, uh, they just got back to me." She pulled the car to a stop on the side of the road. Yeah, we were screwed. "It says here your badge was stolen, both of your badges." She pulled out a picture. "And there's pictures of you two."

Gregory Washington had been a big heavy African-American guy, and Ariana Laren was an East Asian.

"I lost some weight." Dean said dryly. "And I got that Michael Jackson skin disease."

"And all Asians look the same?" I cringed.

"Okay, would you two step out of the car, please?" Kathleen moved to open the door.

"Look, look, look." Dean grabbed her shoulder. "If you wanna arrest us, that's fine. We'll cooperate, both of us I swear. But, first, please– we need to find Sam."

"Yes, please." I pleaded too.

"I don't even know who you guys are. Or if this Sam person is missing." But Kathleen was wavering.

Dean pulled out his charming 'look into my eyes' card. "Look into my eyes and tell me if I'm lying about this."

"Identity theft? You're impersonating an officer." But she hadn't left the car to force us out yet either.

"Look, here's the thing. When we were young, I pretty much pulled him from a fire. And ever since then, I've felt responsible for him. Like it's my job to keep him safe." Dean was rambling. "I'm just afraid if we don't find him fast– please." Dean's voice shook. "He's my family."

Kathleen looked at me. "And why are you in this?"

I hated how my own voice started to shake. "I've already lost a brother." I had to keep it together. "I'm not about to lose another one."

Kathleen pressed her lips together. Her eyes darted to a picture on the dashboard. It was of her and another man with very similar features. Was he her brother? He looked too young to be her dad.

"I'm sorry. You've given me no choice. I have to take you in." She restarted the car. "After we find Sam Winchester."

Dean looked at me. Crisis averted? Momentarily?

Halfway to our destination, we stopped for coffee and a restroom break.

"We're wasting time." I anxiously tapped my foot. "We have forty eight hours to find him alive. Statistics say that after forty eight hours, the probability of finding the missing person alive drops significantly."

"Rushing and forcing yourself to find him won't help you either." Kathleen said, pushing a cup into my hand. "Sugar?"

I grabbed the five packets she passed me. "Thanks."

"You need to keep yourself functioning if you want to find and be able to help him."

Kathleen was right. "Right." I sipped my coffee. It did nothing to calm my nerves. "Why are you helping us?"

"My brother, Riley, disappeared three years ago. A lot like Sam." So the man in the picture on her dashboard was her brother. "We searched for him, but– nothing. I know what it's like to feel responsible for someone, and for them– Come on. Let's keep at it."

"Wait, wait, wait." Dean said suddenly. "Pull over here."

Kathleen pulled over and we got out of the car.

"It's the first turn off I've seen so far."

I looked at the muddy ground. "Tracks. The van probably came through here."

"You two stay here, I'll check it out." Kathleen opened the door.

"No way." "We're coming with." Dean and I both opened our doors.

"Hey. You two are civilians." Kathleen glared. "And potentially felons. I'm not taking you guys with me."

"You're not going without us either." I crossed my arms and stood my ground. We were finding Sammy no matter what.

Kathleen let out a sigh. "Alright. You promise you won't get involved? You'll let me handle it?"

Sure. Whatever.

"Yeah, alright." Dean answered out loud.

"Then shake on it." Kathleen held out her hand.

Dean clasped her hand in his, only to curse when she slapped a handcuff around his wrist. Oh hell nah. I tried to run but she was fast. She yanked me back by my jacket and shoved my face against her car. The click of the cold metal around my wrists made me slack my body. My fate was to be chained to a stupid car while some woman looked around for Sammy.

"Hey!" Dean yelled.

"Stay put." Kathleen grunted and handcuffed the two of us to the handlebars of the car.

Dammit. She was smart. How long had she been cooking this plan?

"Oh come on." Dean groaned. But Kathleen continued walking away. "This is ridiculous. Kathleen, I really think you're gonna need our help."

"I'll manage, thank you!" she called, and disappeared into the trees.

"I gotta start carrying paper clips." Dean grimaced.

"You got a woman who has bobby pins." I pointed out. I used my free hand to pluck out a pin from my head and started picking at the lock.

Dean raised his voice to mock me dramatically. "Thank God for your hour-long hair routine in the mornings."

"Shut up." I huffed. I worked the pin through the lock. It took a minute especially with one hand, but it came undone. "Awesome." I moved onto unlocking Dean from his.

The screech of the pickup truck had him cursing. "Son of a bitch. Hurry up." he hissed.

"Don't curse at me." I mumbled as I heard the final click.

The cuffs fell with a clink to the ground. I quickly picked them up and threw them in the cop car.

"Come on, we gotta go." Dean tugged on my arm.

I ran after him through the woods, following the truck's tire marks.

We ended up finding a rundown rickety house. It was huge, but it was clearly in dire needs for repair.

"This house is ricketier than that rickety truck." I whispered to Dean as we tried to figure out how to get inside.

"Tell me about it." Dean kept a hand on his pistol. "Where should we look?"

There were about as many cars in this place as there were in Bobby's yard. License plates from all over the country. Ohio, Minnesota, Arkansas, Iowa, you name it. I kept looking around till I found the most suspicious thing in the area. Both our eyes landed on the door to a barn that looked like it had fresh footprints around it. We glanced at each other. No doubt about it. We were going in there.

I gripped my gun as tightly as I could and followed Dean as he slowly pushed the door open. I kept an eye out behind us, anything and I would shoot. Shoot first, questions later.

The barn was stinky. If graves stank of one old corpse then this one smelled like ten. Were there corpses in here? My heart dropped. Was Sam okay? Sam wasn't dead was he?

"Son of a bitch…" Dean put his sleeve up to his nose as he adjusted to the smell. I did the same. We looked around cautiously. Nothing to note. Just a bunch of cages with weird locks on them along with shackles… Some of them had skulls and bone remnants in them. Of course.

Wait. This scene felt familiar. I knew this place. It felt so familiar. Was it in the show? It didn't feel like deja vu.

"Sam?" Dean suddenly said. He rushed over to a cage where Sam was sitting up. "Are you hurt?"

Sam broke out in a grin. "No."

"Damn, it's good to see you." Dean rubbed his brother's shoulders through the gaps between the metal bars.

"How did you get out of the cuffs?" Kathleen asked. She was in the cage right across from Sam.

"Secrets." I told her. She looked even more confused.

"Alright." Dean knelt down and observed the locks. "Oh, these locks look like they're gonna be a bitch."

Sam pointed to a control panel near the entrance to the barn. "Well, there's some kind of automatic control right there."

"Have you seen 'em?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. Dude, they're just people." Just people. I knew this episode. It was the crazy murderer family.

"And they jumped you? Must be gettin' a little rusty there, kiddo." Dean walked over to the control panel and started pushing random buttons. "What do they want?"

I tried to figure it out. Maybe this was just some crazy axe murderer. And not the murderous family with the crazy daughter. The next sentence out of Sam's mouth confirmed the situation. For me at least.

"I don't know. They let Jenkins go, but that was some sort of trap. It doesn't make any sense to me."

So this was the crazy murdering family!

Dean kept talking while playing with the buttons. I examined the lock. Was there any way I could break it? "Well, that's the point. You know, with our usual playmates, there's rules, there's patterns. But with people, they're just crazy."

"See anything else out there?" Sam asked.

"Uh, he has about a dozen junked cars hidden out back. Plates from all over, so I'm thinkin' when they take someone, they take their car, too."

"Yeah, all kinds of states. Some were from here too." I frowned when the lock refused to come undone.

Kathleen asked me in a small voice. "Did you see a black Mustang out there? About ten years old?"

I wasn't good at identifying cars. Dean answered her instead.

"Yeah actually, I did." Dean responded. Kathleen closed her eyes and took a slow deep breath. "Your brother's?" She nodded.

"I'm sorry." I told her.

"Let's get you guys out of here, then we'll take care of those bastards." Dean walked back to us and pointed at the control panel. "This thing takes a key. Key?"

"I don't know." Sam shook his head.

"Well, I better go find it." Dean went to leave. "Sharon, you stay here. In case someone comes in.

"Hey," Sam called.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful."

Dean just clicked his tongue in acknowledgement and went out the barn door.

"We're gonna need weapons." I started looking around. Nothing really weapon worthy. I walked over to a particularly rusty cage and tugged on one of the iron bars. It gave a little. Lowkey, it would work. I tugged on the damn thing, grunting when it came off with a groan. It had taken a bit of strength, and I was pretty sure I would get tetanus from the cut it left on my hand. But I wouldn't die, right?

"Let's hope that doesn't disintegrate when you hit them with it." Sam joked.

"Yeah." I tested it by slapping it against my palm. "It hurts like hell. I think this'll do."

Kathleen had gone quiet. I wrestled out a couple more iron bars and handed it to the two of them. "Should work as defense if they come in." I ran my hands over the cold steel of the gun in my back pocket. "I have a gun too, but I'm not very keen on killing a human."

"Yeah." Sam sighed. "Just people. But why are they letting us out of our cages?"

I shrugged. "Dean said they're crazier than what we deal with."

"What do you mean?"

I ignored Kathleen's question. "Someone's coming." I ducked behind a pillar and gripped the bar in my hands. I breathed slowly. I had to be calm if I wanted to fight. If memory served right, then someone was gonna come down here… But just one or two? I couldn't remember. But it didn't matter because I could take one or two guys no problemo. And it wasn't like I didn't have backup. My gun pressed against my bare skin. Who knew I would find comfort in a gun. I prepared myself when the door to the barn opened.

The locks to the cages clicked open.

"What are you doing?" Sam cried.

I lunged. I swung the rusty rod down as hard as I could on one of the men. The man grunted and collapsed on his knees, but he wasn't unconscious.

"Behind you!" Sam yelled.

I ducked just in time to not get shot.

"Shit, there was another one!" the man that shot yelled.

"Hey!" Kathleen yelled, and she smacked that guy in the back of his knees. He landed on the smelly barn floor with an 'oof'.

Sam grabbed one of the men's shotguns and aimed it at the guys. He tried to shoot, but the bullets wouldn't fire. I brought out my own pistol and shot right into one of the men's knees. He gave out a cry of pain and then went silent.

"Is he dead?" Sam whispered.

"No. I missed any major arteries." I fixed my eyes on the other man next. "And if you're dying instantly from a shot… well you probably were never meant to be alive anyway."

Sam rammed the back of the shotgun into the man's head. That guy passed out too.

"Shockingly easy, no?" I grinned.

"Three on two was hardly a fair match. And with us?" Sam chuckled. "So," He looked at the two unconscious men. "What are we doing with them?"

Kathleen grit her teeth. "I have an idea."

Her grand idea was tying them up in one of the cages. Well, it was a solid idea for sure.

"Jared! Lee!" came the angry voice of an old man.

"There were more?" Sam muttered.

I racked my brain. I couldn't remember how many more there were. "Wanna launch a surprise attack?"

"How?" Kathleen asked.

Sam looked up. "Sharon, you're a genius."

I remained perched on my ledge, hiding behind a vertical post. Sam was behind another post on my left and Kathleen on my right. I couldn't see them in the dark, but I knew what we were gonna do. Fun times.

I played around with the gun in my hands. I still had quite a few bullets left. I was too lazy to tally up the numbers from the previous times I'd used my gun. The weight told me I was good for at least five more shots… dammit, maybe I should have let Dean do maintenance on my gun.

"Lee! Where are ya? Lee!" an old man yelled. "Jared?! Hit the lights, Jared!"

But obviously no one responded.

"I gotta do everything in this house!" the old man cried. I could hear him flick a switch. Nothing. No lights. "They must have blown the fuses." he muttered to himself. I could hear him cocking a shotgun.

Welp, we had our own.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are." Sang the man. "I know you're in here." He opened up random cabinets, checked every cage they had. And then he screamed. "FUCK! Lee! Jared!"

He must have found the other men. "I'm gonna kill you for touching my family!"

Kathleen jumped down on the man. She rammed the back of the shotgun into his head repeatedly until the man let go with a shout.

"Dean." Sam looked at me, all panicked.

I nodded. "Kathleen, you got this?"

"Might need some help tying them up." Kathleen stood up, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "But I can keep them in check."

Sam jumped off his ledge first and held out his arms for me.

"Really, Sam?" I laughed. There was a ladder right there for me to use. Sam shrugged. "It's faster."

I jumped down and he caught me by the sides of my thighs with a grunt.

"You guys do this a lot?" Kathleen asked.

Sam and I looked at each other. "Yeah. Kinda what we do. With Dean." That is if he was still alive. I was pretty sure he was alive.

I helped her tie the men up and hooked them up to the shackles for good measure. "Alright, let's go."

We didn't have to go far. Dean was walking out the door and onto the porch with a grimace.

"Dean."

Sam and I both sped up to the man. Dean protested, but let me pat him down for injuries. He winced especially hard when I brushed against a spot on his shoulder. "What'd they do to you?"

"Hot poker sticks." He shuddered.

"Jacket off." I tried to help him out of it. In the moonlight, I could see where it had a hole burnt through it. Even his shirt had a hole. "Damn, dude." It was a nasty burn. "We need water."

"Wouldn't trust what they have in there." Dean grimaced as I grabbed a handkerchief from my pocket.

"This'll have to do then." I wrapped up his burn.

"Anything else, Dean?" Sam asked.

"No."

"Sure, man." Sam patted the back of his head and Dean winced.

"Oh, come on." Dean swatted his hand away. "Stop touching me like that."

Sam deadpanned. "Like what?"

"Like you're- you're- dammit never mind."

"If that isn't gay." Both brothers snapped their heads in my direction. I shrugged. "Keep talking like that and I will write this for the internet."

"You won't." Sam looked at me horrified.

"Sharon, that better be a joke." Dean threatened.

"Sure, buddy. Sure." I scoped out the junkyard of cars till I spotted my ride. "I'll go get my bike."

"Keys," Dean grunted.

"Where are they?" Sam started checking Dean's pockets.

"Jacket. Got them after getting that little girl to tell me."

Sam pulled out my keys and tossed them to me. I went through a bunch of cars.

One, two, three, four, five… seven, ten… twenty… thirty… There were so many cars, so many bikes, so many rides, and all of them had belonged to people. People that were killed by other people. Not demons, not ghosts, not some freak supernatural thing. But some deranged humans. Humans could do all this. All this death, all this pain. I spotted my bike in a corner, surrounded by a bunch of others.

Their license plates were rusted over, and the paint was chipping off of them. Their parts were falling apart. Just how many people were killed? I felt sick. We hunted down the supernatural monsters… but was there anyone that hunted down these sick human monsters?

Then one specific car caught my eye. It was far off in the distance, covered in vines and crushed by fallen branches.

'Baby on board'.

A baby. These… these people– were they even people? – had killed a baby. I felt dizzy. I gripped onto the edge of my bike, trying to ground myself. A baby's screams pierced through my head. That baby must have been so terrified. To be ripped away from their family and killed just for some other sick bastard's enjoyment.

You're thinking too much again.

Oh, how nice of Mr. Angel to stop by.

I am neither man nor–

Fine. Mx. Angel.

I don't know what that means.

Gender neutral suffix.

… of course.

So, after so many days of silence, why was the Angel showing up?

To tell you that whatever you are planning. It is stupid.

Stupid? My plans were stupid? I was trying to reach a happy ending here.

You die, I die.

Then maybe they should get a new vessel.

I need time.

Right. We had no time. I had to save John.

You're crazy.

Thanks, genius. Wait… How did they even possess me?

You agreed.

I did?

Yes, once. Once you did. I only need to hear the word 'yes' once.

Huh… I might have said yes to it in a dream.

Indeed.

Bro wasn't even trynna deny it.

I looked around at the yard one more time. Kathleen would kill them. I knew that. She would get revenge for her brother. The monsters would be dead. I rolled my bike out of the yard and walked up to Dean and Sam who were in another brotherly spat.

"Is that how you talk to an injured person?"

"Dude, you weren't the one that was kidnapped!"

"Oh, come on! I saved you, right?"

"You two done arguing?" I stood next to them with my hands on my beloved ride. The two brothers scoffed.

"Sounds like me and my brother." Kathleen's voice suddenly said. We turned around to face her walking out of the basement with her shotgun in her hand. "Where's the girl?" She asked.

"Locked her in a closet."

"And the men?" Sam tilted his head.

Kathleen paused. "Shot." she shifted nervously. "Trying to escape."

We all looked at each other. No one was escaping from those handcuffs.

"So, state police and the FBI are gonna be here within the hour." Kathleen said with a small smile. "They're gonna wanna talk to you. I suggest that you're long gone by then."

"Sounds great to me." Sam nodded. "Thanks."

Kathleen looked better than before, but she still had a haunted look in her eyes. "Kathleen." I decided to suck up my social anxiety. "About your brother… I'm sorry we couldn't do anything for him."

"Thank you." She began to tear up. "It was really hard not knowing what happened to him. I thought it would be easier once I knew the truth– but it isn't really." She took a deep breath to compose herself. "Anyway, you should go."

"Yeah." I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Keep up the good work."

She gave us a weak smile.

"So isn't this highly illegal?" Sam said from the back.

"Yeah, it's not like we impersonate government officials everyday." Dean shot back from the front.

I rolled my eyes. "Three people on one bike isn't that bad, you know. Wait till you get on the streets of India. We get four people on a bike with four suitcases on the side and a dog in the basket. Oh, and wearing ripped slippers."

"You people are crazy." Dean mumbled. I squeezed his waist tighter.

Sam just laughed. "Well, we could have Jessica on here too."

"Yeah, lemme just wiggle a little more so I'm sitting on the ignition, and we can have a full family vacation." Dean flipped off his brother, who shoved his own middle finger in front of his face. I couldn't help but smile at the brothers' arguing. With the wind nipping at all our hair and the rustle of trees as we sped by, it felt peaceful. Everything was alright. Jessica was alive. Bobby was at his house. Dean and Sam were happy. And John was still okay. We were all okay.

"Never do that again." Dean broke the silence.

"Do what?" Sam leaned over my shoulder to hear Dean better.

"Go missing." I looked at Sam's hazel eyes.

They glittered with joy. "You two were worried. About me."

"Damn right we were." I tapped his boot with mine. He playfully nudged back.

"All I'm sayin' is, you vanish like that again, I'm not lookin' for you."

"Sure you won't." Sam teased.

"I'm not."

Sam chuckled. "So, you got sidelined by a thirteen-year-old girl, huh?"

"Oh, shut up."

"Just sayin'. Gettin' rusty there, kiddo."

"Shut up!"

With the two brothers laughing I felt like I could relax. We were okay. For now.

A/N: Sorry for the short and late update. Clearly I'm not stressed enough about the o chem quiz that might be this week, but the professor told a friend of mine that he is moving it to after spring break but idk. Ignore the bio lab exam. Yeah, we have exams for bio lab, idk what we're gonna do in it tho. ANYWAYS, I talked to him again. Dude kind of remembers me. I made a fool of myself tho. "I saw you debating with the TAs up front lol" "Debating? No I was just asking a question." And then he proceeded to talk to my friend who was waiting for me outside while I wasn't there. Yeah, life's great. Oh I went to Spencer's for the first time in my life. Those boob jewellery are amazing. The Spencer's I grew up with was a grocery store in the basement of a mall in India so this was a new experience. The only 'grocery' I saw in the American Spencer's was a strawberry vibrator so yeah, Ig it's a grocery store.