There was something about Dean Winchester that frustrated me beyond words. I don't know if it was the cocky grin on his pouting lips or perhaps the way he never seemed to take anything too seriously, except when it came to hunting, but he had gotten under my skin like a nasty rash.
The smirk on his lips as the waitress slipped him her phone number made me roll my eyes, and when he watched as she walked away, I just drank the rest of my coffee.
"You gonna go get Sammy?" I asked, not looking up from my cup.
"Huh?"
"Sam? He's about the size of a tree, brown hair, hazel eyes, looks like a lost puppy." I looked up and noticed him rolling his eyes.
"What about Sam?"
"He's been gone for a long while. Maybe you should check and make sure he's alright? We're supposed to be on the road."
"Give him some time. He'll be out in a second. Maybe you should try to let go a little. You don't need to be in control all the time." He looked down at the napkin with the phone number and licked his lips before turning the napkin upside down, and his eyes found mine once again. "Don't give me that look, you know what I mean."
I ignored him and let my eyes sweep the room and guests again. His words stung a bit. Dean sighed but got up and walked over to the bathrooms. I watched as he opened the door. My brows furrowed when I noticed the change in his body language, he tensed up like he was worried. My legs bounced up and down, and I ran a hand over my braid as I hoped Sam wasn't sick.
A second later, Dean looked back at me and nodded his head to the door. I pulled out some money and paid for our food and coffee as Sam and Dean passed me. Sam looked paler than usual, the hair hanging down in his face wet from having washed his face. I followed them out.
"You okay, Sammy?" He was quiet until we got to the car.
"Yeah, I-" He looked over at Dean, who shook his head, silently telling his brother to keep quiet. "I had a vision."
I stared at him. "What?"
"I get these, these visions. It started as nightmares at first, nightmares that came true. Now I can get them while I'm awake as well." Sam explained.
"Did John know?" I could feel my brain work over the new information. Was that what he had been hiding from me, why the subject of Sam was so delicate.
"I told him after you took off."
"What'd he say?"
"He wasn't thrilled we hadn't called about it, if that's what you mean," Dean answered, and I nodded. He'd been mad, which meant he didn't know until then.
"What do you know about..." I searched for a word to use. "Your ability."
"Not much. It started a few weeks before Jess died. Like I said, nightmares at first, migraines, then full-on visions. That's how we found out where the demon was gonna be back in Salvation," he explained. I nodded, encouraging him to continue, casting an eye over my shoulder. "We think it's connected to the yellow-eyed demon somehow. He... He said he has plans for me and children like me."
"Yellow-eyed..? Wait, children like you?" I furrowed my brows.
"Yeah. We met this guy a while back, Max. He... he could move things with his mind," Sam told me, and I could feel my eyes go wide. "His mother died in a house fire on the day he turned six months old."
"Real psyco," Dean commented, but Sam shot him a look.
"So there's more?" I asked.
"I guess." I took a moment to process the information, and we all got into the car.
"What was your vision about?"
"A man. He got a phone call and then walked into a store, says he wants to look at a gun, then shoots the clerk and himself."
"Yikes."
Dean started the car, and we began to drive in the pitch-black night.
"Yeah. You think you can find out where it's gonna happen?" Sam asked. I thought about it for a second. If these other kids with abilities also had a house fire on the night of their 6th month birthday, then it wouldn't be too hard. Assuming that one of these 'children' was responsible.
"Yeah, only one problem," I began. Sam turned around to look at me in the backseat, his ember eyes pleading. "Dean poured coffee on my computer yesterday."
"Hey, you were the one that..." Dean began in a defensive voice, but Sam cut him short.
"What if we stop at an Internet cafe?"
I shook my head. "It'll take me all day to remake the program. It'll be much faster if we just head to the roadhouse. Ash has it on his computer. From there, I'd guess it wouldn't take that long."
"I don't know, man, why don't we just chill out, think about this," Dean huffed.
"What's there to think about?" Sam wondered, looking over to Dean and turning off the radio that kicked on while we spoke.
"I just don't know if going to the Roadhouse is the smartest idea," the older of the two stated skeptically.
"Dean, it's another premonition. I know it. This is gonna happen, and Ash and Will can tell us where."
"Yeah, man, but..."
"Plus, it could have some connection with the demon. My visions always do." That piece of information edged itself into my brain, and my leg began to bounce up and down as I thought about what all of this meant.
"That's my point. There's gonna be hunters there. I don't know if, if, if going in and announcing that you're some supernatural freak with a, a demonic connection is the best thing, okay?" My eyes snapped up at Dean at his words. Sam looked over at him, taking a moment to let his words sink in.
"So I'm a freak now?" He huffed. Dean realized his mistake and tried to play it off by slapping Sam's leg.
"You've always been a freak," he smirked before looking back to the road.
"Look," I began, drawing both boys' attention to me. "Dean's right. We need to be careful with this information. John refused to tell me anything he knew about you, Sammy. Some hunters shoot first and ask questions later, and if word would come out about your... demonic connections... You'd probably have to hire me." Sam huffed and shifted in his seat to look at me again, but I held up my hand to show him I wasn't finished. "But I trust Ash with my life, and I don't say that about a lot of people."
"We need to stop the vision from happening," Sam pushed, and I nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, but we need to keep our mouths shut. Tell as few people as possible. I think Ellen and Jo are safe, it might be hard to hide it from them if we go there... I've run a background check, and they seem to be okay."
"You looked into Ellen and Jo?" Dean scoffed.
"Of course I did. Have you met me?" I rolled my eyes. "My point is that this is a secret that needs to stay a secret. Even Ellen and Jo..." I shook my head, and they seemed to understand what I meant. "I still think we should go there, though."
---
It didn't take long for us to reach the Harvelles Roadhouse, and we didn't waste any time hurrying inside. Music was playing loudly, and while some of the customers were civilians, some were clearly not. I could count at least three hunters, just by the look of them. I grabbed Sam by the arm as Dean continued inside, almost crashing into Jo.
"Sam," I hissed. "I've changed my mind. This isn't a good idea." He looked at me and scoffed, deciding that it didn't matter.
"We need to stop it." He rushed past me and stopped briefly by Dean and Jo, who had begun to talk.
"Where's Ash?" he breathed in the middle of his step. Jo barely got the chance to answer him before he continued to take his long steps.
"In his back room," the blonde informed him, and I hurried after, only stopping briefly to give her a side hug and kiss her cheek.
"Thanks."
"And I'm fine..." She called out after us.
"Sorry, he's, we're... kind of on a bit of a timetable," Dean's voice excused us. I pushed forward through the swing doors, not letting Sam out of my sight, not that it was hard.
Sam knocked on the door hard, and I smiled when I saw the sign that read 'DR BADASS IS: IN".
"Ash? Hey, Ash?" Sam called through the door when Ash didn't open it. Dean walked over, and he knocked on the door as well, to no reply.
"Dr. Badass!" I called in a singsong voice, and I smirked when the door cracked open only a few seconds later. In the doorway, Ash appeared. Naked. Dean looked away, bothered, but I kept my eyes trained on him.
"Sam? Dean? Sam and Dean." Ash began and reached out to grab my hand. He placed a kiss on my knuckles. "Willow."
Lights were flickering from inside, and music was playing. I tried to get a look inside, but Ash kept the door next to closed. He sniffed and breathed with his nose.
"Got a little pick me up going on in there?" I commented, trying to peek over his head. He gave me a lopsided grin.
"You are welcome to join us."
"Hey, Ash. Um. We need your help," Sam interrupted while I laughed, a bit surprised.
"Well, hell then. Guess I need my pants." Ash shut the door, but not before he just happened to open the door wide enough for me to see his... yeah.
"Good for you, Ash," I mumbled under my breath with a smirk.
It didn't take long for him to dress and get back into the bar with us, his homemade laptop in hand. Sam began giving him instructions on what to search for, and I leaned my forearms on Ash's shoulders, looking down at the screen as he typed in what Sam told him to. He'd remembered a logo that was pretty easy to find.
"Well, I got a match. It's the logo from the Blue Ridge bus lines in Guthrie, Oklahoma."
"Okay. Do me a favor - check Guthrie for any demonic signs, or omens, or anything like that," Sam begged, and I gave him a pointed look telling him to take it easy.
"You think the demon's there?" Ash wondered.
"Yeah, maybe."
"Why would you think that?" Ash asked, and I looked at Sam with a look that said, 'I told you so.'
"Just check it, all right?" Dean snapped.
"Come on, Ash," I mumbled, shifting his focus back to the computer. He tapped a few keys, and I observed his work slowly nodding in approval.
"No, sir, nothing. No demon," he concluded.
"All right, try something else for me. Search Guthrie for a house fire. It would be 1983, fire's origin would be a baby's nursery, night of the kid's six-month birthday."
I rolled my eyes. Why was Sam doing the exact opposite of what I had asked? Low profile. I could have searched for that if I got a minute alone with the computer, something Ash would have given me if asked nicely. All Sam would have needed to do was shut his mouth.
I looked around the room out of habit and noticed Jo watching us when she cleaned the bar, silently listening to our conversation. Ash stared at Sam for a second.
"Okay, now that is just weird, man. Why the hell would I be looking for that."
I let my arms circle around his neck and gave him a peck on his cheek, craning my neck from behind him.
"Because it's me asking," I whispered in his ear.
"I feel like you're just using me."
"Ooh yes," I hummed, and he straightened his back and nodded.
"Give me fifteen minutes."
"Bet I can do it in ten."
"Give me eight minutes and... thirty seconds," he countered and then disappeared to the back room. I smiled and happily followed him out back.
Once Ash and I had found what we were looking for, I grabbed Sam and hurried out to the bar. I needed to get out of there before any other hunters started asking questions. My nerves were getting the best of me.
I could hear REO Speedwagon's Can't fight this feeling even from the back. My eyes found Dean and Jo talking, looking over to Ellen.
"We have a match. We've gotta go," Sam told Dean speeding past me.
"All right, Jo. See you later." Dean got up and followed his brother, I didn't miss the disappointed look in Jo's eyes. I slowed down, fighting to keep my paranoia in check.
"We should hang out soon, Jo, I need a break." The girl chuckled and hugged me.
"Swing by when you're done with whatever it is you're doing. I'll get us a case."
"Uhr, I'm not gonna say no, but your mom is gonna kill me," I mumbled into the hug. She grinned once she let me go. I waved at Ellen, who stood behind the bar, and she offered a warm smile.
"See you." I gave Jo a soft punch on her shoulder as I turned to walk away. Dean stood at the door waiting for me impatiently, I could feel his eyes on me as I walked out.
"You wanna say goodbye to the hunters in the back too?" He looked between me and Jo, who by now had turned her back on us. I just rolled my eyes and sighed, not feeling like I was in the mood for his shit.
We got into the Impala, and after we had started driving, it didn't take long for the older Winchester to sing acapella to Can't Fight This Feeling. I did my best to ignore him but soon snapped at him to shut it, backed up by Sam.
"I heard the song somewhere, I can't get it out of my head, I don't know. Whaddya got?" Dean huffed, a bit flustered.
"We found Andrew Gallagher." I began. "Born in eighty-three, like Sammy. Lost his mother in a nursery fire exactly six months later." I observed the back of Sam's head. His brown hair had gotten longer, and he looked nervous. He was sweet and caring. Not exactly the image I had in my head of how I thought he'd be once I started spinning on the number six a few months back with John.
"You think the demon killed his mom?" Dean asked from the driver's side.
"Sure looks like it," Sam mumbled, his nose in my research.
"How did you even know to look for this guy?" Dean looked over at his brother.
"Every premonition I've had, if they're not about the demon, they're about the other kids the demon visited. Like Max Miller, remember him?"
"Yeah, but Max Miller was a pasty little psycho," Dean stated in a voice that reminded me of the late hour.
"The point is he was killing people. And I was having the same type of visions about him. And now it could be happening all over again with this Gallagher guy."
"How do we find him?" Dean looked at me, and I sighed in defeat. I was more than annoyed. Usually, I prided myself in my ability to find anyone or hide anyone.
"Couldn't find him," I confessed. "He has no current address, no current employment. He owes money to almost everyone and everything but has no collection agency flags. The best I could find was the address of his last W-2, but that was over a year ago."
"You're telling me you've lost your touch?" Dean found my eyes in the rearview mirror, and I shot daggers his way.
"I'm telling you that I couldn't find him in under twenty minutes. If someone hadn't ruined my computer..."
"Guys!" Sam warned, noting that the conversation had the possibility to turn nasty.
---
"You won't get anything out of Andy, guys. I'm sorry, but they never do," the woman said as she poured me a large cup of coffee. I breathed in the smell. I hadn't gotten any sleep in the Impala on our drive over, and we didn't have time to rest once we got checked into our motel. All we did was change into suits and head for the cafe Andy had worked at.
"'They'?" Sam asked, raising a brow.
"You're debt collectors, right? Once in a while, they come by. I don't know what Andy says to them, but they never come back." The woman seemed sweet, she had curled her hair, and she wore a sweet flowery dress. I found her name tag, Tracy.
"Actually, we're, we're lawyers. Representing his Great Aunt Leta. She passed, God rest her soul, and left Andy a sizable estate," Dean made up.
"Yeah. So are you a friend of his?" Sam pushed, looking up at her. I drank deeply from my coffee, feeling the pain in my back worsen in the horribly uncomfortable seat.
"I used to be, yeah. I don't see much of Andy anymore" she sounded sad speaking about it. A waiter that was passing by seemed to pick up on our conversation.
"Andy?" He asked and slid into the booth next to me. A little too close for my comfort. "Andy kicks ass, man."
"Is that right?" Dean asked, smirking as he noted my annoyance. I kept it to myself, though. We could use every information we could get.
"Yeah. Andy can get you into anything. He even got me backstage at Aerosmith once, it was beautiful, bro," the guy bragged. He almost sounded starstruck as he spoke about him.
"How about bussing a table or two, Weber?" Tracy huffed at him, and he looked up at her before looking between Sam, Dean, and me. I gave him a tightlipped smile and narrowed my eyes as if I could get him to understand that he was too close.
"Yeah. You bet, boss." Just as fast as Webber had sat down, he got up and continued to work.
"Look, if you want to find him, try Orchard Street. Just look for a van with a barbarian queen painted on the side."
"Barbarian queen?" Dean repeated, confused.
"She's riding a polar bear. It's kind of hard to miss," Tracy informed us, raising her brows.
And Tracy wasn't wrong. Once we pulled up on Orchard Street, we found the van in question.
"I'm sorry, I'm starting to like this dude. That van is sweet," Dean hummed, looking out through his window.
"It looks like... like a mixture between 'the golden compass' and 'Wonder Woman,'" I said, blinking at the painting.
"What's wrong?" Dean's voice asked, and I looked back at him to see him looking at Sam.
"Nothing." The younger of the two stated, but Sam looked like something really bothered him.
"Sam, you look like you're sucking on a lemon, what's going on?" Dean insisted.
"This Andrew Gallagher," Sam began. "he's the second guy like this we've found, Dean. Demon came to them when they were kids, now they're killing people."
"We don't know what Andrew Gallagher is, all right? He could be innocent," Dean shot back.
"My visions haven't been wrong yet."
"What's your point?"
"My point is, I'm one of them."
"No, you're not," Dean scoffed. I bit my lip and looked between them.
"Dean, the demon said he had plans for me and children like me."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, maybe this is his plan, maybe we're all a bunch of psychic freaks, maybe we're all supposed to be —"
"What, killers?"
"Yeah." Sam looked so sure of it that it physically hurt me.
"So the demon wants you out there killing with your minds, is that it? Come on, give me a break. You're not a murderer, Sam! You don't have it in your bones."
"No? Last I checked, I kill all kinds of things." Sam's voice sounded like he was begging for something.
"Those things were asking for it. There's a difference," Dean explained o his little brother.
I kept my mouth shut. This wasn't a conversation I felt comfortable having. Even if Sam had been nothing but kind to me and his compassion was the very first thing I learned about him, I couldn't help but once again think back to my theory of why the fire happened at six months. The demonic connection and his gifts fitted the puzzle even if I didn't have the whole picture yet.
I looked over my shoulder and just caught a glimpse of Andy as he walked out of a building, wearing pajamas and a long satin robe. I chuckled when I noticed the dragon embroidered on the back.
"Oh, Ash would looove this guy," I hummed, making the brothers turn away from their intense conversation and look out the window. A woman two waved at him from two stories up, sitting in the window dressed in only a kimono.
Andy continued to walk down the street, and watching him was like watching a movie. He smiled brightly as he passed people, he stopped to talk to a man who handed Andy his cup of coffee, and only a few steps later, he shook another man's hand and exchanged some words.
"That's him. That older guy, that's him, that's the shooter," Sam told us.
"All right, you keep on him, Will and I stick with Andy," Dean decided. "Go."
Sam jumped out of the car, and I took my opportunity to get into the passenger seat before Dean drove off, following Andy.
"Don't drive too close, he's gonna ake us," I instructed him. When the only answer I got was a sigh, I turned to him and huffed. "Dean!"
The van came to a stop in front of us, forcing Dean to stop as well. Andy got out of his car and walked over to us.
"I told you so."
"Shut up," Dean scoffed and got his gun from in between us. He hid it under his jacket just as Andy approached us.
"Hey," he called just before he bent down to speak through the open windows.
"Hey hey."
"This is a cherry ride," Andy complimented, smiling. His brown hair was messy, like he had just woken up. His eyes found me in the passenger seat, he winked at me.
"Yeah, thanks," Dean answered, glancing back at me.
"Man, the '67? Impala's best year if you ask me." Andy continued, and Dean relaxed noticeably. He even pulled his hand out of his jacket, leaving the gun. "This is a serious classic."
"Yeah. You know, I just rebuilt her, too," the hunter told Andy with pride in his voice.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, can't let a car like this one go," Dean hummed, probably happy to find someone who knew a bit about cars.
"Damn straight." Andy agreed. "Hey. Can I have it?" I almost laughed. That was until I noticed Dean kept the smile on his lips and began to get out.
"Sure, man."
"Sweet."
"Dean!" I hissed, wondering what the fuck had happened to him.
"Hop right in there." Dean hummed, and Andy got into the driver's seat and looked at me.
"Let's go for a ride."
"Okay," I chirped, and Andy grinned at me. He closed the door and told Dean to take it easy, and he began to drive away.
The confusion began to build up in my head. It all felt wrong. This wasn't supposed to happen, but when I looked over at the smiling Andy, I smiled as well. He held a phone pressed to his ear, but I didn't remember it ringing.
When we drove past a confused-looking Sam, I just smiled at him, unable to form a complete sentence. It felt like my head was a mush of loose ends, all leading to my ride with Andy. It was all I was doing. Just taking a ride with Andy.
Andy parked after a while. He smiled at me and told me to stay in the car that he would be right back, and I did as told. I blinked a few times and tried to concentrate. After a short while, he came back, but he seemed different. He wasn't smiling anymore, and he opened the door on my side to talk to me instead of getting behind the wheel.
"Look," he mumbled. "I was going to ask you on a date, but uh, I just found out a friend was in an accident... So just... Sorry." He closed the door, and I let my eyes follow him as he walked off.
It took me several minutes before I felt like I could gather my thoughts. Luckily, Andy had left the keys in the car, so I slid over to the driver's seat and started her up.
I drove back the same way we came, and soon enough, I found the boys walking along the street. I pulled up next to them, letting my armrest on the side door.
"You boys need a ride?" I asked. Sam looked at me unamused, a new sadness in his eyes. He didn't say a word as he got into the back seat.
"You okay, Sammy?" I looked into the rearview mirror to get a good look at him. He just nodded his head and looked off, clearly not wanting to talk about it. I looked back to Dean, who still stood on the curb. He clenched his jaw and blinked a few times, staring at me. "You gonna stand there all day?"
He cleared his throat and swallowed hard, the darkness in his eyes didn't disappear.
"Move over," he commanded, and I rolled my eyes but did as I was told. His voice was softer than I'd thought it'd be. I had offered to drive on several occasions but had been told off every time for even thinking it.
Once I was in the passenger seat once again, Dean got in behind the wheel.
"I took good care of her," I promised. He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something but quickly shut it again when he looked at me. "What?"
"N-nothing..." He stuttered out at last.
"What happened? I you drive past me," Sam asked, coming to his brother's aid.
"It's like I- Like I couldn't think for myself."
"I told you, Sam. Mind control," Dean finally spoke up. I nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, I just couldn't tell him no."
"Are you okay?" Sam asked, and I nodded.
"Yeah, my head hurts, but I'm fine." I rubbed my eyes. "He said a friend of his died."
"Dr. Jennings. The man..."
"Did it happen like in the vision?" I asked, turning to look at the youngest Winchester.
"No, I kept him out of the gun store. I thought he was okay. I thought he was past it, at least... I should have stayed with him."
"What happened?"
"He was hit by a bus," Sam almost whispered, obviously riddled with guilt.
"It wasn't your fault, Sam," I told him softly. He gave me a look, and I could see Dean smile softly in my direction in the corner of my eye. "There was nothing you could have done. I say we find Andy and try to figure out what's going on here."