Emma had just walked into her office when the phone began to ring. "Sheriff Swan."
"Hello Sheriff," this might have been the first time that Emma was actually relieved to hear the voice on the other line.
"Regina, thank god. Did we find him?"
"I found him, Miss Swan. No thanks to you. He was at the diner. There's something I need you to look into, Sheriff." Emma rolled her eyes, growing impatient with all these little assignments Regina kept giving her. "There are two men in town. I don't trust them; I think they're up to no good."
"And I'm supposed to, what? Bring them into the station and interrogate them because you don't trust them? You made me do the same with August and he turned out sane. I think you're losing you're touch, Madam Mayor," Emma retorted.
She heard Regina sigh on the other side of the line. "Yes, and like August I have a very good reason for my distrust. They were the ones who found my son outside the town line and were with him at Granny's."
Emma's attention was definitely grabbed. Two strangers giving Henry a ride home? That definitely didn't sit well with her. "Ok, who are they?"
"Sam and Dean. They were at Granny's a few minutes ago when I picked Henry up. I want to report a harassment. I trust you'll do your job and do it well. Good day, Miss Swan." Emma heard the click indicating their conversation was over.
Sam and Dean, Emma thought, what are you up to?
***
Dean moved to the other side of the booth where the very audacious waitress had greeted them, giving them a suggestive look that screamed "you must be a couple".
"We're brothers," Dean explained, giving the waitress a smile.
"Ah, I see. Well I'm Roby and I'll be your waitress. You guys are new in town, huh?" she turned her attention to Sam. Dean felt a bit insulted, but the way his brother smiled at the attractive brunette made up for it.
Sam laughed, "Yeah. I'm Sam, this is Dean. We noticed that you don't get many outsiders around here. Especially the way your mayor there seems to welcome people."
"Madam Mayor can be a bit of a prude. But you're right. In fact, from as far back as I can remember we haven't had visitors until a few months ago."
"Really?" Sam said, intrigued. "That doesn't strike you as, strange?"
Ruby contemplated this, but shrugged. "We're a small town, barely on the map. I'm not really surprised. You know how things are in small town. Everyone knows everyone and nothing ever changes."
Sam leaned toward her, trying make the moment a little more intimate. "But that's the thing, Ruby," he whispered. "This town doesn't show up on maps. At all."
Ruby looked at Sam and bit her lip. Dean wondered if Ruby was even listening to his brother. HE cleared his throat, trying to get her attention. "All this talk of maps and travel has my stomach growling. What do you recommend?"
"Granny makes a mean burger if you're into something hearty. There's also lasagna as the special. And if you're craving something sweet we have the best peach pie.
"Oo!" Dean lit up at the mention of pie.
Sam shook his head at his brother's kryptonite. "I'll just have the chicken salad with water."
"Excellent choice," Ruby praised, giving him an extra long smile.
"Always with the rabbit food, Sammy. I'll have that scrumptious burger you were talking about with a beer. Oh, and a slice of that pie afterwards!"
Ruby collected their menus and made her exit.
"Dude! What'd you interrupt us for?" Sam said to his brother.
"Dean shook his head. "Man, she didn't know anything. How exactly are you supposed to react to someone telling you the town you grew up in isn't even on a map? She didn't know how to reply. It was getting tense. Plus the eye sex she was sending your way was just way too much for me to handle. Like really, get a room."
Sam rolled his eyes, but had to agree with Dean. She really had no clue that there was anything strange about how off the radar her town was. "I guess that's one less person we'll need to interrogate. By the way, what's our game plan? Detectives? FBI?"
Dean reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out a random ID. "Dean Anderson, Bail Bonds Man." Dean laughed, remembering the day he'd made this ID. One of his best works. "I'm not sure how that will come into play here but I guess it's sort of law enforcement. Your turn."
They played this kind of game when the gig they were working didn't call for any kind of super intense surveillance. Each brother would reach into their pocket and pull out the first ID they had and use it. Sam sighed and read the name on the ID he grabbed. "Sam Barrie, Private Investigator. But wait, we told the mayor we were brothers?"
"I don't know, man. We could be step brothers, I guess. Step brothers with different last names. It happens."
Ruby approached with their drinks and meals. She directed her attention toward Sam when she asked if they needed anything else. "I think we're good. Unless Sammy here needs something..." Dean said suggestively.
Sam glared at Dean and then smiled at Ruby, "It all looks great. Thanks, Ruby."
"Anytime," she smiled once more at Sam before leaving.
"Subtle," Sam said to his brother.
Dean dug into his burger, loving every bite of it. "Come on Sammy. Have a little small town fun. She's into you."
"I'm surprised you're not going after her. She is a breathing female. Isn't that your type?" Sam asked.
"Dean shrugged. "I like a girl who's a little bit of a challenge, but forward. You know: tough, a badass."
"Right, like Cassie or Jo?"
"Don't start that," Dean warned. The door of the diner opened and the customer caught Dean's attention. "More like her. I call dibs."
Sam turned and made eye contact with the attractive blonde walking to the bar table. "Dude, you can't call dibs on a person. That's not how it works. She's law enforcement though; didn't you notice the badge on her belt?"
"Sammy, I noticed a lot of things about that woman in the 5 seconds I saw her- but what was on her belt wasn't one of them."
Sam scoffed. "Yeah, well good luck man. But you and the fuzz don't mix."
Dean watched from the corner of his eye as the blonde leaned over the counter and talked with Ruby. He noticed Ruby's eyes quickly look at him and his brother- they were talking about them. Hmm, he thought. His hunter instincts took over and his senses heightened. He tried to play it cool, but he knew something was up.
His eyes greeted the blonde's when she started walking to their table. "Hello there, beautiful."
Sam ignored Dean's salutation. "Sam and Dean?"
"Can we help you, officer?" Sam said over his brother's attempt to reply.
She looked between the guys, deciding to give her attention to Sam- the respectable one. "Yes. Seems there are certain residents in this town who've been complaining about harassment," she then turned her attention to Dean lifting an eye brow.
Dean chuckled, "Yeah, I'm sure in the fifteen minutes we've been in this town we've managed to harass enough people to report us to the cops."
"Sheriff," she corrected.
"Sheriff. What, did the mayor tattle on us or something?" Dean asked sarcastically.
He looked at the Sheriff just in time to see the corner of her mouth rise for a second. If he had blinked he would have missed it. So, the sheriff doesn't like the mayor. Shocking, he thought.
"You were with Henry. It's natural for a parent to be concerned of their child getting into cars with strangers."
"Ma'am, Henry was sitting on the side of the road outside of town line," Sam began deciding to leaving out the part about the kid contacting them. "We were only trying to look out for him. In fact, he was the one who asked if we could give him a ride. He doesn't seem too wary of strangers, but we understand the mayor's concern. She didn't need to threaten us."
The Sheriff's head cocked to the side and her eye brow rose. Dean noticed this action was similar to one Henry had done earlier. She turned and pulled up a chair to the end of their table, sitting in it backwards. "She threatened you, huh? What'd she say?"
"Well it wasn't your average 'welcome to our town' speech, that's for sure. She told us to get into our car and leave town. And if she caught us with her son, she would destroy us, if it was the last thing she did," Dean said with a chuckle. He noticed her eyes narrow and her expression harden.
"She threatened me the same way when I first got here. She's a lovely woman, huh? Alright. I believe you," she said looking into both the brother's eyes as if searching for reason not to. "But you better watch whose toes you stub while you're here. A lot of people are under the mayor's thumb."
She got up from the chair and pushed it back to its spot. "Wait, when you first got here. How long have you been here?" Sam asked.
"A little less than a year. Listen I've got to go. Stay out of trouble, or you'll be seeing me again." She turned and walked toward the door. Dean watched her, barely listening to what she was saying. "Oh," she turned around catching his attention, "and if anything happens to Henry and I feel like you both are in any way involved, you'll have to deal with me. And I throw a much harder punch than the mayor- that's a fact." She left without letting them reply.
Dean tried to imagine by 'that's a fact'. Had she and the mayor been in a physical fight? Oh, he had to stop himself from thinking about that too hard. He smiled, "I like her."