(Jess's POV)
Doug Pritchard lived only twenty minutes outside the city of Columbia, South Carolina. Dean and Sam told Jess to stay in the car while they 'questioned' Doug.
"I don't understand why I can't come in," Jess said as she watched Dean walk around to the trunk of the Impala.
"Jess we don't know this guy. We want you to stay safe and out of harms way. So, stay here please." Sam said from the front seat. Jess sighed but leaned back in her seat. She knew they were just trying to look out for her.
"Are these monkey suits really necessary?" Dean asked as he remerged from the boot of the car and checked his gun once more.
"Sadly they are."
"I think you both look handsome." Jess smiled at them. Dean's eyes seemed to sparkle but Sam saw through it.
"Nice try. You're still staying here." Sam said as he exited the vehicle and Jess gave a pout. 'It was worth a shot anyway.' Jess thought as she saw them climb the steps to the old house they were parked in front of.
Since Sam and Dean were going in to see Doug, Jessica was left in the car and she frowned as she forgot to ask them for the keys so she could listen to some tunes. She didn't want her phone to die just in case Rachel called so, it looked like she'd be spending her time in silence. It was only ironic that Castiel decided now was a good time to show back up. One minute Jess was humming to herself and then the next thing she knew she was staring at Cas.
"Cas!"
"Jessica, it is good to see you."
"Right back at ya, Mr. Magician." She said with a laugh in her voice. The nickname was starting to stick it seemed.
They sat in silence until Jessica blurted out what he's missed...for obvious reasons she left out the part out where she hit Sam in the face.
"I think I've heard of a similar problem once. A long time ago in Scotland." Jessica's eyes lit up.
"Really? I'll have to tell Sam, could be a potential lead. Thanks."
The angel smiled and looked out the window and the car fell into a comfortable silence. He was probably thinking hard about something, maybe it had to do with why he left earlier.
"So, Dean said you just disappear sometimes." She said to him which he nodded to.
"On occasion, it does happen."
"So, where did you go," She asked and then blinked. "I'm sorry that's rude." She said with a frown.
"No that is okay. Ever since I saved Dean, the other angels have been after me. I can't stay around the Winchesters for long because my former superiors are fascinated with them." Jess looked to Cas with a confused look.
"They have the same last name?" She asked the angel as Cas blinked.
"Sam and Dean are brothers. I see they didn't mention that." Jess thought it was odd they hadn't told her that but maybe as they were trying to track down Rachel it had just slipped their minds. Jess laughed. Sam and Dean looked nothing alike so she never would've guessed, she had just assumed they were really close...like best friends.
The car was silent once more. Cas was nice and Jessica found herself liking the angel quite a bit. He was not what she had expected but she really didn't know what to expect honestly.
Jess leaned back against the seat. The past couple days had been so busy she was content just sitting here. Jessica started humming again, some tune her mother used to hum when she was a child. She hadn't thought about her mom in a while.
'Maybe after all this, Rachel and I could visit her...bring some nice flowers...'
About fifteen minutes later, the boys came strolling back to the car with a stack of books. Jess waited until they are at least a minute down the road before she aired her questions.
"So what did Doug have to say?" Dean rolled his eyes as he flipped through the radio stations, looking for something. Neither of the boys had acknowledged Castiel's presence in the backseat. Jess leaned up and grabbed one of the books piled on the front seat.
"A lot. We may have to look more up in the lore but Doug was really helpful. He says we may be dealing with a Nuckelavee." Jessica grimaced at the word. Whatever that was didn't sound too great.
"They are native to Scotland." The gruff voice of the angel spoke up. Dean jumped and Sam glanced in the rearview mirror.
"How did you... Cas? When did you get here?" Sam asked.
"I've been on Earth for a while now... I thought you knew that?" He asked with confusion covering his face.
"No Cas. Sam meant in the car. When did you appear in the car?" Dean asked with an annoyed expression.
"Shortly before you two went inside the residence of Doug Pritchard."
"Well, thanks for showing up." The words seemed lost to Cas though as he leaned forward to look at Sam.
"Sam, how did you get the bruise on your face?" .
"Um, it's nothing," Sam said while looking at Jess through the rearview. Cas turned inquisitively toward Jessica, tilting his head to the side and squinted his eyes.
"Did you hit Sam? Why? What did he do?"
"How did you-wait a second, can you read minds?" She asked and looked at Sam and Dean to confirm but it looked like they were confused for some reason.
"I do have the ability yes." He said and her eyes bugged out. Cas reached out and touched Sam's forehead. Jessica watched in awe as the bruise miraculously disappeared from Sam's face.
"Woah." She whispered in amazement.
"Thanks, Cas."
"You're welcome, Sam," Cas then turned to look at Jessica, "and Jessica try not to hit anyone again." A sheepish smile skirted across Jessica's face as she nodded her head. Cas then proceeded to look back out the window. Jess felt like a child getting scolded and decided to change the subject.
"Do you think we'll figure this out, and save Rachel in time?" She asked anyone.
"We'll do our best, I promise," Dean said as he looked at the girl in the backseat of the beloved car.
Jess sighed, while these guys were great she just wanted everything to be normal again. She should have been at her job watching young children ride various pony themed rides to their heart's content. Instead, she was here looking for Rachel and her kidnapper. She didn't want to think about not finding Rachel, but every day that went by their chances got lower and lower of finding her.
• • • • • •
(Dean's POV)
A few hours later, Jessica had fallen asleep and Castiel had left saying that he would scout ahead but Dean wasn't sure what the angel was up to. He had told him he'd be back when they needed him. The music was turned down as the impala traveled on down the road.
Sam looked over his shoulder at Jess before looking at his brother.
"So he was right," Dean said from the driver's seat. He wasn't looking at Sam and he hadn't mentioned any names but Sam knew who he was talking about. They came to stop at a red light. He didn't want Jess to get sucked into this life of theirs but every day they didn't find Rachel it could become more of a possibility. He didn't want her to lose her only family.
"Had a feeling we were walking into some trap or another mystery spot situation but Gabriel was really just trying to help," Sam said.
"Let's get out of this first before you praise that clown," Dean told his brother as he gunned the engine and rambled on down the road...after the light turned green of course. He didn't really trust that wayward angel but, it seemed as if he had sent them a solid lead which was something. The little town definitely had something going on in it, that was for sure.
Dean saw Sam get more comfortable in his seat as he grabbed the map out of the glove compartment, opening it up and scanning the page while saying, "Obviously there is a reason he left that note for us...all this does feel a bit odd but now we're here. Could she be the one Gabe was talking about?"
"Who knows man...let's just help her alright...and as for this prophecy that may or not be true..." Dean trailed off as they pulled into the motel.
"We'll figure the rest out later?" Sam asked.
"We'll figure the rest out later." Dean echoed.