Total Eclipse of the Heart

Chapter 18: A "Real" Hunter (Part 1)

"Because demon, that's why. I mean, the second you find out this Ruby chick is a demon, you go for the holy water, you don't chat," Dean said, disbelief laced into his voice.

They had only been on the road for about three hours at this point, but already Leah was hoping for this car ride to be over. Sam had made her promise she'd let him tell Dean about what happened with Ruby, and she reluctantly agreed, but why he decided to wait until they were in the middle of their long drive to Bobby's, she had no freaking idea. He couldn't have at least waited until they'd gotten to their motel for the night? He'd already waited about four hours, what was a few more?

"No one was chatting, Dean," Sam insisted.

"Oh, yeah? Then why didn't you send her ass back to Hell?"

"Because- because she said she might be able to help us out."

"How?" Dean turned his gaze from the road, over to his brother. Sam gave a slight roll of his eyes and pressed his back against his seat. Dean's eyes flickered to the rearview mirror to see if Leah was going to answer him, and when he realized that neither of them would, he continued. "No really, guys, how? How could she possibly help us?"

"She told us she could help you, okay?" There was a short pause that followed where Dean didn't seem to understand exactly what it was that his younger brother was saying, so Sam clarified. "Help you out of the crossroads deal."

Dean looked between Sam and Leah with a look of disbelief and what almost looked like an amused smile, but Sam and Leah knew better. Leah's anxiety rose a bit in fear of what Dean would say or do at hearing that bit of information. Dean had explicitly told them not to look into or do anything about his deal, so she knew that he was going to have a few choice words upon hearing they'd done exactly the opposite of what he'd asked.

"What is wrong with you two, huh? She's lying, you gotta know that, don't you?" he said. When Sam and Leah continued to say nothing, he continued. "She knows what your weakness is- it's me." Dean fixed his gaze back at the road and lowered his tone, a bit. "Leah, you went along with this?"

Leah shrugged. "Barely. Look, I don't know if giving her the time of day was the right call, but... I don't know, Sam seemed to think it was the right move, so I followed his lead. Besides, I figure my judgment's probably screwed up when it comes to demons, considering recent events, so me calling the shots probably wouldn't have been the best idea."

Dean was silent for a moment, taking her words in. From the tone in her voice it really seemed like she was very much pro put-Ruby-back-down-under, just as Dean would have been in that situation. Leah was a smart girl, so why she decided that her instinct wasn't as valid as Sam's, Dean really couldn't say, but he did see the point in her words. She was wrong, though; she definitely should have listened to her own judgment, however he understood why she didn't.

"What else did she say?" he asked, more to Sam than to Leah.

Again, silence.

"Dude," Dean said, in an answer-me-now-or-so-help-me-god type of tone.

"Nothing." Dean gave Sam a look, causing Sam's annoyance to heighten. "Nothing, okay?! Look, I'm not an idiot, Dean, I'm not talking about trusting her, I'm talking about using her. I mean, we're at war, right? And we don't know jack about the enemy; we don't know where they are, we don't know what they're doing. I mean, hell, we don't know what they want. Now this Ruby girl knows more than we will ever find out on our own. Now, yes, it's a risk, I know that, but we need to take it."

Dean eyed his brother as much as he could, considering he needed to keep his focus on the road in front of them.

"...You're okay, right? I mean, you're feeling okay?" Dean asked, sincerely.