It was cramped in Sam and Dean's car. Nancy didn't mind because she was too busy ogling the beautiful thing, but the rest of the Drew girls were very uncomfortable. Sal had chosen to sit between Destiny and Elizabeth in order to avoid Nancy. She also had Evelyn on her lap, so she felt claustrophobic. Due to the alarming chase through Main Street LA, Sal had forgotten all about the fight she and Nancy had at Mako, but now Sal had a new reason to be mad at her. Nancy had put blind trust into strangers. Not just any strangers, but two shady, intimidating men who carried guns under their shirts. Needless to say, Sal was not happy with Nancy, therefore she was trying her absolute best to ignore her. Unfortunately, that was difficult because Nancy wouldn't stop talking.
"What model is this?" Nancy asked in astonishment.
"Chevy Impala," Dean answered proudly from the driver's seat.
"I know it's an Impala, fat-head. I was asking what year it is."
Sam gave Nancy a quizzical look. "Fat-head?"
"Nancy!" Elizabeth said. "Don't call people fat-heads."
"You can't tell me what to do," Nancy scoffed.
Elizabeth crossed her arms. "Just because you were born a few minutes before Destiny and I doesn't mean you can do whatever you want."
"Uh, yeah it does," Nancy retorted. "Just ask Sal. She's the oldest. She knows our rights, don't you, Sally?"
"Don't talk to me," Sal deadpanned. "And don't call me Sally. I stopped going by that nickname a long time ago."
Nancy rolled her eyes. "Come on, you can't still be mad at me for wanting to go to Jack."
Sal kept her eyes straight ahead. "If you think that's why I'm mad, then you really aren't as smart as you think you are."
"Of course I'm smart!" Nancy said defensively. "I'm the oldest triplet!"
"By three minutes!" Elizabeth cried out. "That barely counts!"
"I'm older than Destiny by six minutes so how do you like them apples?" Nancy argued.
"Hey!" Dean yelled. "Shut up! I can't hear myself think with all of you yapping back there."
Nancy maneuvered herself so her head rested on the back of Dean's seat.
"I don't shut up, I grow up, and when I look at you, I throw up! Bleh!"
Dean glanced irritably at Nancy in the rearview mirror. She had her finger pointing inside her mouth, mimicking the Valley Girl saying of, "Gag me with a spoon!"
"Did you just make a Stand By Me reference?" Sam inquired.
"Dang right I did. Mama loves the 80s," Nancy snickered.
Dean shook his head and muttered, "We should've left you kids in that damn alley."
"What did you just say?" Nancy growled.
Dean tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "You heard what I said, you little sh--"
"Dean, don't," Sam cut in. "They're just kids."
"I don't care how old they are," Dean said sharply. "Dad wouldn't have taken attitude from us, so we're not taking it from these brats, either." He turned his head just enough to look at the girls. "You all got that?"
None of them dared to try him, not even Nancy.
"Good," Dean said as he made a turn, eyes dark and jaw set.
The girls sat in silence for nearly an hour after that. Luckily for Sal, Evelyn had slept through all the bickering. She had enough on her plate with Nancy and the others. She didn't need her baby sister giving her trouble, too.
Destiny hadn't said anything since the drive started. She was in a world of her own, mesmerized by the zooming landscapes outside. The view allowed her to escape the squabbles of her sisters and the gravely voice of the man named Dean. He scared her. His green eyes may have been light in the sun, but there was darkness behind them.
Destiny had a bad feeling about Dean. She had a way of reading people, a sixth sense for lack of a better term. Usually, her power manifested on its own, but right now she was forcing it to come forward. The energy she felt coming off of Dean was unlike anything she had felt before. He was hostile and on edge. Destiny could tell he didn't like her and her sisters, so she made a mental note to be cautious around him. Sam's energy, however, was a bit lighter. He seemed to be more relaxed.
Sam must have sensed Destiny's gaze because he turned around to look at her. The way his soft hazel eyes crinkled at the edges when he smiled made her heart dance, and for a moment she actually felt safe in that car.
About ten minutes later, Dean pulled over to the side of the road. The engine sputtered to a halt. Dean unbuckled his seat belt and slid out of the Impala. Sam did the same. The girls waited awkwardly, unsure of what was going on.
Sal prayed Nancy had made the right decision. She couldn't stomach the idea that her sister had been wrong about Sam and Dean. What if they weren't being hunted by someone? What if they were the ones doing the hunting? Hundreds of possibilities of what these men could do to them shuffled through her mind like a deck of cards. Her heart hammered inside her chest where Evelyn's head rested. The other girls couldn't hear it, but to Evelyn it was an orchestra.
The toddler gurgled as she awoke from her slumber. Her blue eyes roamed about the Impala.
"Don't worry, Evelyn," Sal said softly, mistaking her curiosity for anxiety. "Everything's going to be alright."
Sam crouched outside the window where Destiny was seated. He tapped on the glass gently.
"You guys can come out," he said. "We're walking the rest of the way."
Sal watched Destiny hop out of the car with trepidation. She didn't like how quick the youngest triplet was to plant herself next to Sam. It was too early to tell whether he and his brother could be trusted, and Sal couldn't afford to let any of her sisters be influenced by childish crushes.
Elizabeth got out next. Sal hesitated, so Nancy climbed over her instead of going out the other door just to annoy her. She grunted as she squeezed past, bending and twisting at strange angles so she wouldn't kick Evelyn in the face, then landed on the dirt road with both feet. Inhaling deeply, Nancy took in the delicious scent of food on the sea breeze.
"I smell hot dogs," Nancy said, rubbing her hands together mischievously. "Does the wilderness always smell this good?"
"It's coming from the carnival," Sam explained.
"What carnival?" Nancy asked.
Sam hooked his thumbs through the belt loops of his jeans, hints of amusement at the corners of his mouth. "The one behind you."
Nancy's smug grin slowly fell as she turned around and saw that there was, in fact, a carnival. It stood on a boardwalk that stretched into the ocean. The bright morning sunlight washed out the lights of the carnival, but they would have looked brilliant at night.
"Wow," Destiny breathed. "It's beautiful."
"It is," Sam agreed. "That's Caligari Carnival. It opens in a few minutes, so they're probably preparing the food machines. That's why you smell hot dogs, Nancy. We're not in the wilderness. We're just in the rural part of Santa Carla."
Suddenly interested, Sal jumped out of the Impala.
"Santa Carla?"
"Yeah, we're about an hour away from Los Angeles," Sam said.
Panic flashed briefly across Sal's face, but she managed to mask it before Sam could notice. "Oh. Where's your brother?"
"Right here." Dean came walking up from down the road. "I was waiting for you guys. What are you doing? Talking about ponies?"
"I hate how he treats us like little girls," Nancy grumbled.
Elizabeth stared at Nancy incredulously. "We are little girls."
Sam couldn't hide his smile; Destiny's laugh was too contagious.
"Relax, Dean. I was just letting them know where we are. We're helping them, remember?"
"For a price," Dean reminded Sam. "The smartass said they're going to help us get you-know-who off our tail."
"Voldemort?" Nancy remarked, proving his point. Dean glared at her before taking off.
Grinning, Sam jogged to catch up with him. "She's eight. You were just as snarky when you were her age."
The girls followed, but Sal motioned for them to fall back a little so there would be a gap. She waited until Sam and Dean's conversation faded into the background, then turned to speak to her sisters.
"Nancy Love Drew, you are an idiot," Sal spat.
Nancy held her hands up in defense. "What did I do?"
"Are you kidding me?" Sal whispered shrilly, struggling to keep her voice down. "Do you not realize what you have gotten us into?"
Nancy put a finger to her chin, pretending to ponder.
"Well, let's see. I got us out of LA, where a nuclear bomb exploded and is probably infecting hundreds of people with radiation as we speak. I managed to convince two strong, intelligent men who are very skilled in operating firearms to be our bodyguards, all the while managing to avoid telling them what 'skills' of ours we're offering to help them. I found Jack Bauer, the only man who could have rescued our sisters, and told him who I was so he would know we needed his help. And what did you do, Sal? Lead us in the opposite direction, into the immediate public, where we were chased down an alley and almost shot by the very men I persuaded to help us!"
Elizabeth and Destiny were stunned. For once, Nancy had made a valid point. Several, actually, but that didn't matter to Sal. All she could think about was where they were.
"Be that as it may, Nancy, we're still in danger. Maybe even more so now."
"What makes you say that?" Nancy asked through gritted teeth.
"We're in Santa Carla," Sal said in a low voice.
"So?" Nancy shrugged.
Sal paused before saying, "Nancy, Santa Carla is the Murder Capital of the World."
Destiny and Elizabeth gasped. Evelyn hid her face in Sal's shirt. Shock robbed Nancy of any comebacks.
"Oh... yeah, that could be a problem."
Sal's face was turning purple. "A problem? Nancy, this is a disaster. For all we know, these guys could be hitmen hired by Jackson! That would explain the guns, the sketchy stakeout in the alley, and their decision to bring us to a place that is literally famous for having the highest death count!"
"You okay back there?" Sam called over his shoulder. "It sounds like one of you is having an aneurysm."
"Oh yeah, Sal's fine," Nancy said casually. "She's like this all the time."
Sal's eyes were daggers but Nancy kept smiling. Annoying her oldest sister was her favorite hobby. It was so easy!
The sun continued to climb higher in the sky as the girls continued to follow the Winchesters. Eventually, Sam and Dean stopped in front of a foothill.
Elizabeth cocked her head. "I don't get it. Why did we stop?"
"This may look like an ordinary hill, but it's actually our secret hideout," Sam replied. "Dean and I have spent most of our lives traveling the country in the Impala, staying in one crappy motel after another. But a few years ago, we discovered this bunker, so now we stay here whenever we have downtime."
"How did you find it?" Sal asked.
"The same way we met you." Sam smiled. "On accident."
Sam kicked the foothill with the heel of his shoe. With a metal screech, the hill opened up to reveal a dark tunnel. Startled, Sal took a step back. Evelyn slapped her hands over her ears. The groan of the door was too much for her.
Nancy gaped at the secret entrance. "A hidden passageway! Sweet!"
"Yeah, yeah, it's bitchin," Dean jeered. "Now let's get inside before anyone sees us."
Sam stepped aside for his brother. "Jerk."
It was an odd thing to say, but Destiny had a feeling it was an inside joke between the two.
Dean narrowed his eyes at Sam. As he disappeared into the tunnel, Sal picked up an expletive he muttered under his breath.
"Despicable," she snarled.
"You guys go in front of me," Sam said. "I need to stay here so I can seal up the entrance."
Sal obeyed, beckoning her sisters forward. She couldn't help but think about the negative outcomes of going into this mysterious bunker. What if they were walking into a trap? What if Jackson was waiting there to take them away, just like he had at their house?
Destiny felt Sal's apprehension like a heat wave and sought for her hand in the dark.
"Don't worry, Sal. I'm sure we'll be safe here."
"There's only one way to find out," Nancy said ominously.
The girls walked deeper into the hill.