Highway to Hell [Delaney, Dean]

[tripp]

Name: Dean Winchester Aliases: Numerous Aliases Species: Human, Hunter Location: Lawrence, Kansas played by: Tripp likeness used: Jensen Ackles

------------

Name: Delaney McQuade Aliases: Del, Delaney Trudeau, various other aliases Species: Half-Demon/Human, Hunter played by: Lovely likeness used: Alyssa Milano

{Supernatural Fan Fiction}

Following Dean's stint in hell and subsequent rescue, the brothers Winchester are back on the road hunting demons and battling supernatural foes.

Along the way Dean meets and begins a heated affair with a mysterious young woman named Del. It is soon revealed that Del is also a hunter and comes from a family of hunters who, like the Winchesters, have a sordid past.. What is she hiding?

Whether drawn together by fate, choice, or forces beyond their control Del becomes entangled with the Winchester brothers. Will her family secrets cause Dean to turn his back on her or force him to make an even darker choice?

Dad has been ressurected, Sam is in love with a half demon the boys met on a case, Dean is wrangling with the joys and responsibilities of falling in love with Del, and Bobby is there to help guide them all, sometimes with a swift kick in a**!

More surprises and shocking revelations await them along the road.. will what's coming destroy them all?

[tripp]

September 18, 2009
(location to be determined)


Dean had met the pretty girl in a bar while trying to hustle pool, she'd kicked his butt and taken his money but he got her number. That was how they met and then he was off again, back on the road, little did he know she was too. Now, here in another town on another case.. she came strolling into his life again.. "Hmm I thought there was supposed to be a damsel in distress here."

He grinned a little, sort of cocking his head to the side a bit. "I am a damsel in distress... with balls and a helluva cool jacket.."

"The jacket is cool.."

"saaaaave muh baaaaybeee.."

"that's just so cute."

"what, you don't like elvis?"

"You're not elvis." She replied, kissing him softly as she reached up to the ropes holding his arms above his head.

"Well I should hope not... demons I believe in, but not ... little green men... or wedding chapels..." He gave a shiver for effect, still smiling at her.

"Good for you then, I'm not here for a proposal. I'm here saving your damsel in distress in a leather jacket butt." She winked at him. "So, now that the brain is on the right path with the idea.. what do you think.. I need to know whether to cut the rope or leave you there."

"Go ahead keeping on with the saving..." He grinned sheepishly, looking past her. ".. behind you!"

"What is behind me?" She whispered as she cut through the rope and ducked into a spin to find out.

Once he was cut down, he wriggled the rope free of his wrists to help her. "Who do you think got me up there? Hi honey... dinner time so soon? Sorry.. I'm not hungry," he teased, thankful the knife in his boot hadn't been taken as he joined her to slash at the gruesome fugly thing. "Not exactly on a first name basis... it's... that."

"I think it likes you." She called as she spun and slashed, aiming a harsh kick at it and moving so she flanked the other side, making it harder for the thing to fight them. "Hey.. I gave him my number first.. wait your turn to eat him!" She taunted, making it turn at her as she cut deeply into it's arm.

"Ea-... hey!" Her comment distracted him but she was focused on the thing and upstaging him... again. He honed in on the beast - no one was getting eaten, not by a slimey whatever-it-was demon, anyway. The shred of the rope on his wrist made a good enough snare as he looped it and aimed for the creature's injured arm, to slow it down if nothing else.

"I hope you can fight demons better than you play pool." She tossed at Dean this time as she ducked under the arm he snared and ran her knife along the demon's side. "Did you figure out how to kill this thing before it tied you up at least?" She was grinning, obviously having a good time in the fight, even if it had torn the lower front of her once perfectly good Zepplin t-shirt.

"My game's fine... just had an off night," he grumbled, trying to save face and not get his image further tarnished. The snared arm was tugged against the kick he sent to the creature's cut side. "Yeah, if you can get to its head. Not much good without it."

"Can you get it's other arm? and give me your knife.." She leaned back, under the swing of it's free arm and the came up, bring the beast around toward Dean as she held out her hand for his knife.

Dean chuckled. "What? I'm not giving you my knife. You get his other d**n arm, he's aiming it at you," he pointed out, tugging again and giving the thing another kick that made something under its brown and grey skin crack loudly.

"You're such an ass.. fine have it your way." She grumbled and sighed ducking under him and the arm he had snared to get around to the other side. She almost appeared to be taking off on him but merely got herself a running start and bounced up onto a crate, flipping off of it through the air to slash at the creature's neck, slicing deeply but not taking the head all the way off. Of course pain and fury caused the thing to jerk and yank and swing wildly at her as she went over it and landed on the floor a couple feet away. "Damn.." She muttered feeling the bruise on her own side where it caught her but no blood.

Damn was right. This chic was literally off the walls. Dean was splattered and he recoiled, still attached to the tether and yanking the wild creature too close for any comfort. His own blade dug in and up as he pushed back against the thing's torso, leaving another gruesome gash. He pulled the blade back and sent a crosswise slash to the thing's throat to help finish the job.

She was only down a moment to catch her breath and coming back up, only to stand there and watch him finish the thing off. It jerked again with the final slash and then slumped forward to fall to the ground. She moved to the side to be out of it's way and chuckled, looking over at Dean. "It's not one of those pesky ones that get's back up in a few minutes is it? I don't remember reading that, but maybe you had different sources.."

******************************

The demon was bagged, at least the bad one and Del was walking beside the very cute and interesting man who'd played the damsel in distress tonight. She was amused and surprised.. maybe impressed and intreagued even that he was the same guy who's money she'd taken at pool and who she'd given her number to. "So.." She started, not knowing what to say and since most relationships she had with people didn't last longer than the length of a few games of pool or a case she worked on. Del just shook her head a little and chuckled softly. "Hungry?" She pulled a bag of peanut M&Ms out of her jacket pocket and unrolled it, offering to share.

"Maybe you hadn't noticed, but I've been slimed," he scoffed, not really thinking about food, although she had his number as well as he had hers. "M&Ms in the corner pocket... nice. Look, what do you really want, huh? I mean, thanks for coming in at the right time back there and all, but what gives?"

"You're right, you should probably wash up.." She rolled the bag back up and put it in her pocket again with a shrug, buying herself a minute. She looked over at him with as innocent of an expression as she could muster. "What do you mean? I didn't know you were going to be there.. I expected it might have grabbed a snack but I swear I had no idea it was you." She chuckled softly, shoving her hands into her pockets. "It was like.. of all the demon lairs, in all the abandoned warehouses, in all the towns, in all the world.. and 'he' had to be tied up in mine.." She didn't know if he'd get the reference or not.

"You're no Bogie and I'm no Bacall... but you've got good taste in movies. Maybe in another life or just some other time we could talk about that... instead of me asking you why you're not freaked the hell out about what you saw back there."

"I could easily ask you the same thing.. " She countered softly. "It was my mother's favorite movie." She shrugged again and let out a sigh. "Maybe it's not the first time I've seen something.. not that, but similar."

Dean looked at her sideways and shushed her, breaking off a step or two to look around a couple of the corners, keeping quiet a moment until they were out. That creature had managed to get him and leave a knot the size of Baltimore on the back of his head that was beginning to throb. The whiskey in his pocket would have to wait though. He needed more answers first. Satisfied that there wasn't another one lurking around, he continued toward the door he remembered.

She scowled slightly at being shushed but didn't have a problem with not talking, she actually prefered it to explaining anything about herself. Of course she had no intention of sharing certain details with him anyway. She remembered the way in without the help of a knot on her head and she just kind of smirked as she walked, thinking about how it must be bugging him that she'd had to 'save him'. Delaney motioned toward the door which she'd propped open a crack with a piece of fallen piping.

The look on his face said enough was enough already and he was irked, but trying not to say anything he was going to regret. He'd seen the way she moved and saying the wrong thing could be just as messy as what she'd just saved him from... damnit. He stopped at the door to let her go first, kicking the pipe out of the way gently and holding the door open.

"Such a gentleman." She murmured softly as he held the door and she slipped outside. The night air was cool but not too cold, it was kind of refreshing after the smell inside that thing's lair.

"Yeah, that's me all over," he muttered, keeping a step behind her, getting one of 'those' feelings that usually wasn't too far off the mark.. unlike his game had been. "I'm not buying it. You didn't know I was here, so you came after that thing? How? Why? It's not like he was in the phone book." A few steps more and he was leaning on the wall... time for that drink, something.

"Are you seriously trying to tell me you're really the damsel in distress tonight and that it wasn't a case of a mistep and it got the upperhand on you? I mean you were just an innocent and unaware victim?" She gave a small sarcastic laugh. "Now that.. I'm not likely to buy, not with the fact that you're not freaking out and that once untied you didn't exactly run in terror."

[tripp]

"I know why I was here... I'm asking you," he pointed out, not getting the answer yet that he was after, chuckling himself. "Are you seriously trying to tell me you were just in the neighborhood? Not exactly the Welcome Wagon back there, little miss shining blade. So you shark pool and you fight like a welter-weight... got any more surprises I need to know about?"

"None you need to know about right this minute." She looked at him with a grin and an arched brow, her hands moving out to the side as she shrugged. "I guess we're even.. you know why you were here and I know why I was here. I'm thinking the reasons are pretty close. I sell Avon, lair to lair.. you?"

"Dish soap," he countered, giving her a look. "How about how did you get here? I need to get to a phone and call my brother."

"That's very respectable.." She turned and nodded in the direction of a discreetly parked, dark blue, 1970 Chevelle. "I drove. You can use my cell." She fished in her inside pocket and pulled out the phone for him to use.

Dean laughed. "Respectable? You really have no idea," he shook his head and took the phone anyway before she changed her mind. He flipped through an extra choice on the menu and frowned, surprised, it really was her number. He glanced at her, trying to figure anything that made sense while he dialed Sam.

"I meant selling dish soap." She grinned, pulling the keys to the car out of her pocket, one of several which held what she needed without be bulky, she travelled light, not keeping excess like many women tended to. She unlocked her side and slipped into the car, reaching over to unlock the passenger side for him.

"Expect a call back," he said, tossing her back her phone as he considered getting in with her.. and her well handled knife. The hesitation was thick enough to cut with it. He leaned on the roof, looking in and around for anything useful... stains, gumwrappers, pool cue... He frowned again. "So," he gestured lazily, looking for a topic, an invitation, something to set 'that feeling' at ease, since it was starting to get worse.

"So... I helped save your a** and you don't trust me enough to accept a ride back... I could say I don't bite, but that would be lying.. a little bite here and there all in good fun.." She leaned back in her seat looking over at him. "How about I promise not to hurt you, as long as you do the same.. you can ride with me or walk, but I don't fancy sticking around here too long."

He chewed the inside of his cheek. She was cute, she was sharp and she was still playing his game... and winning. "Fine," he gave in, eyes rolling -since when did he let a chic get the best of him? He got in and turned the slightly more charming smile to her. "So ... what do you fancy instead?" The door closed and he waited for a clever come back or the flash of a blade.

What he got was an arched brow with a playful yet wicked grin which made her eyes sparkle. "Maybe I got what I came for..." She bit her lower lip as she looked him up and down sitting beside her in the car. "Mmhmmm.." She hummed as she 'kicked' the car to life and put it in gear, before he decided to jump out. "So.. where you heading?" She asked as she pulled out onto the street taking a left to head toward the motel she'd gotten a room at.

His expression and shoulders rolled in a shrug. "You're driving," he sighed, getting a 'great, what's next' pierce in his gaze. Dean looked around at the area he'd seen in shadows before he'd gotten jumped.

"I'm going back to my room for a beer and a shower.. You're more than welcome to join me for the beer.. won't make any promises about the shower.. though you could probably use one." She shrugged back, still smiling a little.

[tripp]

"Nice. You know, it's partly your fault. You should make that up to me, don'tcha think? Speaking of coming clean... what were you really after back there?"

"Dance lessons.." She smarted at first, almost amused that he'd asked her so many times. "You're like a dog with a bone, not giving it up.." She sighed and shook her head, her lips curling a little as she watched the dark road ahead. "Come on.. you're a smart boy.. I'm sure you can figure it out. No? Okay.. kicking some ass, getting some release by getting rid of one mean nasty thing that lurks in the night and preys on humans.. that one?.. maybe some nice fluffy bunnies too.. Will you accept that answer?"

"Maybe. Look, just a few minutes to clean up and maybe shake down a few beers, some tunes and maybe a rematch on some pool. Bunnies... that's cute," he said, only buying part of it and wondering why she was guarding more than he was. "It was a demon, alright? What's so hard about saying that?"

"I know it was." She said quietly, not even glancing over at him as she spoke. "You weren't exactly using that word until just now either.. So hustling pool isn't exactly my full time job, okay? It's not like I can just go around telling anyone, everything.. "

"Yeah, well I'm not everyone. You sure as hell aren't either," he grumbled, looking out the window briefly, deciding keeping an eye on her and her driving was probably smarter. "It's not like we just happened to run into each other again purely by chance, either. Which means you're either working with one or working with someone like me."

"Excuse me? Are you really that much of an... I'm not going to call you names. It's petty and beneath me." Her hand gripped the wheel tighter and her eyes narrowed a little. "How about option three? I'm working independantly and just happened on the same trail as you."

Dean chuckled. "Right. Sorry, no offense, but I've heard that too. So say I buy option 3 and take you at your word, are you going to relax a little bit... Del, right? If you gave me the real name with the real number."

"Even if you've heard it all before.. doesn't mean it's not true." She glanced at him and a small smile broke the stone of her expression, softening it again. "Yeah, it's a real name and a real number.. go figure.." She chuckled and looked back at the road, the last thing she needed was to crash because she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. "I'll relax after I get cleaned up and have a beer... which I'm still willing to share with you."

"Great. Fine, thank you," he nodded, the smile giving way to a genuinely kind one underneath. Maybe there was a real girl with the real name he could find next... if she wasn't talking about the beers when she meant sharing, cuz d**n she was cute... and he was still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"Motel shady motel.." She chuckled after a few minutes of silence when the flicker of the lit sign came into view. "It's not much but they have hot water and the ice machine works." She let out a slow sigh, rolling her shoulders a little to let go of some of the tension which had crept into them. She swung the car into the lot and drove up to park in front of her room. Number 33 and near the end in a darker part of the lot.

"Nicer than some I've seen," he smirked. That was the damned truth. Ice that worked was a far sight better than some of the dumps he and Sam landed at, sometimes even finding that was the highlight of the town they were passing through. "All that high style fighting catching up with you? Maybe we can work out a trade?" He flexed his fingers, motioning a bit of a back rub if she was interested.

"Nahh the fighting usually works out the kinks.." She looked over at him with a smile. "Just... an odd night is all, you know?" She reached over and tapped his arm lightly. "Come on, I have a six pack iced in the bathroom sink.. we can negotiate that trade over a couple.." With that she shifted to open her door and stepped out of the car, closing the door firmly behind her. Her car key went in one pocket and she fished out her room key from it, to get the door open for them. Inside the room was fairly clean, with a full size bed, a dresser, small table along one wall with two chairs on oppposite sides of it, and then the bathroom. It wasn't much, it wasn't fancy, but it was a place to sleep and work. Her bag was on the floor by the table, where she'd been working -her journal, a notebook, pencils, newpapers, books and her laptop were scattered over the small table.

"Yeah, I kinda do know," he agreed with that same smile, though there was something strange in it, a bit of distant thunder, sadness, a loss he couldn't explain. It didn't help that Sam hadn't called him back yet. The room was about as he expected, although seeing someone else's notes and research was a little unnerving.

She closed the door and the lock clicked softly as she did it out of habit. Del turned into the room, dropping her key into the pile on the table and shrugging out of her jacket to toss over the back of the chair. The shape he might remember from the bar emerged from beneath the jacket, cute, curvy, strong, petite and very girl.. Her fingers brushed up to shift a few stray hair behind her ear.

"Sorry about the mess, I wasn't expecting and I don't ever really have company." She shrugged, half genuine in the apology, half not caring too much about it. Her other hand went to her tummy in a natural gesture and she frowned, feeling the shreds of her shirt. "I really liked this shirt too." Without fussing overly much, she went into the bathroom and came out with two cold beers in her hands and a towel to wipe down his jacket with.

Dean slipped his jacket off, feeling the strain in his own arms from the fight and the hour or two he'd been held bound up in the creature's ropes. Slimed and upstaged, the beer was almost all that was left to make him feel better... almost. "Shame about your shirt," he said, though the creative holes weren't such a bad thing.

Del held out a bottle to him as she smiled and shrugged. "I'll just make it a half shirt.. or sleep in it.. likely both." She set her own beer down as she spoke, lifting the wrecked shirt over her head and examining it for a minute before tossing it with her jacket. She revealed a few tattoos and some scars though nothing hideous. There were a couple pretty visible and decent sized scars on her shoulder and side from an attack when she was younger. "Sorry about the sliming.." She picked up the towel and his jacket to start wiping it down.

[tripp]

*****************************

Sam with his awesome timing called in the middle of Dean trying to 'feel better'. "So where are you?"

Dean swore under his breath. "... rounding third base... you?"

"Working.. one of us has to.."

"Oh I was working this job reaaaaal hard, Sammy... you have no idea," covering the phone he wasn't sure how to apologize for the interruption, but he wanted to make it up to her.

"I bet you were.. why is it that you working on a case always involves you getting a girl?" Sam pinched the bridge of his nose and kept from saying anything further on that. "So.. is now a good time to tell me what happened and explain the odd number that you called and left the message from? Her phone, huh?"

Del shifted and leaned back into the pillows, one arm curled up over her head as she watched Dean with a slight smile. The look in her eyes might have hinted that she was thinking of being very naughty.. though the warning was short. With a slight giggle she shifted to taunt and tease Dean as much as possible while he 'chatted' with his brother.

"Oh don't do that," he chuckled to her, realizing he said it also to Sam. "I mean ... don't be like that, Sam. We'll find you a girl on the next case. Just let me finish thanking this one for saving my life - which I think you should too. She did a daaaamn good job."

There was a silent pause for a moment and then Sam cleared his throat. "Sure.. and sure, we can buy her breakfast in the morning.. or will that cramp your roll-over-and-grab-your clothes and get-out style?"

Del smiled up at Dean, continuing the full body nibble, lick, kiss and teasing path she was trailing over him, wondering how much it would take to really distract him. "Don't mind me.." She whispered. "I'll just keep myself amused until you're done.. "

"No Sammy, the only thing cramping any style here...," his voice dropped as she hit something that made him stop thinking a moment. "Sure. Breakfast sounds good. We'll meet you, okay?" The furthest thing from his mind was getting out.

Mmm so that was the 'spot', she smiled and 'hit' it again a little differently trying out what would be the sweetest torture method.

Sam heard the drop and shook his head, Dean couldn't even control himself for long enough to spend a couple minutes checking in.. "Alright.. nine sound good to you? and.. about the life saving girl.. you guys bag the demon? Can I get some sleep tonight?"

"Like you said... one of us has to," he snarked, the thought of sleep slipping further away at the moment, too. "Sure, we bagged it. Got it before it got me, it's all good. Night Sammy... don't wait up." He clicked the phone off and gave it back to her.

Sam stared at his phone a minute after Dean clicked off, he sighed wondering if Dean would even remember breakfast before dinner tomorrow. Well at least one of them was having a good time..

Del took the phone and gently set it aside on the bedside table. She shifted back against the pillows, curling one leg up around Dean's back and pouting at him a little.

"Sorry. He's kinda like a mother hen sometimes," he muttered to her with the same smile as before, turning to see the pout. "Oh don't do that." He did his best to take the pout off, nibble by nibble.

The pout didn't last long under his nibbles though she tried to make it linger a little longer just to keep him 'apologising'. "Mmhmm.. it's okay.." She murmured as she finally gave in and started nibbling back, curling around him more. "That was the only call you were expecting, right?" She teased with a nibble along his ear lobe.

"Maybe. If he can't sleep, he might need me to read him a bedtime story," he teased, though really if Sam found more information on the demon they'd hacked, the fun could be cut short.

"Mmm too bad for him.. you'll be busy 'rocking me to sleep' for .. quite awhile I think.." She smiled, teasing, hopeful, and playful as she leaned up to tug at his lower lip gently with her teeth.

"Gotta love a woman's who's as smart as she is... talented," he muttered, getting lost in the attention. Somewhere still though, he was getting that 'gotta be ready' vibe, that something still wasn't right.

[tripp]

September 19, 2009
8:30am


The sounds of morning invaded her heavy sleep, slowly waking her from the first totally restful and solid sleep she'd had in years. The only time she slept this heavily was when she had enough alcohol to put her out, but that wasn't the case this time.. no indeed, she was blissfully exhausted into a much needed sleep. Del felt the weight of someone partly wrapped and tangled up with her, an arm across her waist, he wasn't exactly laying on top of her, but drapped partly over her and showing no signs that he was at all awake to move yet. Delaney yawned and stretched as best she could beneath him, thinking about rolling him onto the floor to wake him up, which made her chuckle though she took no such action.

The movement tugged at a few working brain cells, trying to tell them to alert the others and rouse him into consciousness. They failed, but the ones beneath the knot on the back of his head were doing a great job, sending soaring, pounding thunder into his cheek against the pillow.His eyes shifted under heavy eyelids that still refused to open.

"Dean.." She said his name kind of quietly, trying to nicely wake him up, her hand on his arm, rubbing gently as she shifted again, trying to untangle her leg from beneath him. He was sleeping heavily but she saw his eyes move under his lids and she gently shook his shoulder, still trying to be nice about it.

His hand slid under his pillow... where was his knife?! His head jerked up and he tried to focus on whatever had caught him off guard. "Sam?" No it wasn't Sam and he wasn't sure who it was or where he was for that first groggy moment that was apparent as he cringed and rose up further, with the sheet in his hand and her leg sliding away... her?... His other hand went in search of the guy running the jackhammer on his skull.

"Del.. Delaney..? Morning.." She said, watching him react and sliding herself up and back, waiting and ready if he was going to strike out at her in his confusion. She came up on her knees and slowly reached her hand out to his arm. "Dean.. ?" She wasn't sure how long it would take him to remember or figure out where he was and who he was with.

"Yeah..," he cringed again as he sat back, hitting his head on the knot against the kitschy headboard. "Yeah... I know. What's up.. what's wrong?" He was aware now that the pain was surging through the rest of him. It was nothing like being shot and not like being hungover, but somewhere in between. He rubbed the spot and looked at his fingers that didn't show any blood, but they surely felt the soft felt-like surface. Was he bit by that thing? Usually he could take a hit, but man.

"Okay.. you seemed a little.. confused for a minute. I was just trying to help you get your bearings a little quicker." She explained, relaxing a little though she remained on her knees beside him. "Nothing is wrong.. just getting up is all.. it's like 8:30 in the morning.. sorry. Are you.. do you want some asprin or something?"

"Nah, I'm good," he said, though it was clear he wasn't 'fine'. He pressed his palms into his eyes then tried to focus and clear his head. 8:30... Sam... "I need to use your phone again."

"Mmmhmmm you look fine.. Phone is right there on the dresser, feel free. I'm going to take a quick shower." She eased over him gently to lower her feet to the floor on the other side of the bed, next to him. Del grabbed the phone and placed it just as gently on his chest. "If you change your mind on the asprin, you know where to find me."

There was nothing at all wrong with his vision, watching every inch of her slink over and past him. The phone thumped lightly on his chest, nearly ignored except the chill of its case. He thought about it a moment and frowned in his indecision... they still had a half hour, right? "Hey. Maybe I'll.. um... I'll take you up on that."

Her steps away from him and toward the bathroom stopped midway between the two. She turned, twisting slightly to look back at him. "On the asprin?" She asked with a slight smile, her eyebrow arched, one hand resting lightly on the back of her thigh.

He wavered a little on the answer, his smile perking up a little. "Sure, that too. Save's us some time, right?"

The way she bit her lower lip and smiled at him, told him how she liked that idea. "I like the way you think." She motioned him to come on with a curling finger and then turned to saunter the rest of the way to the bathroom to get the asprin from the small kit by the sink and then leaned to get the water going.

He was only slightly less modest than she was, pulling the sheet back once she'd gone into the bathroom and following her. Sam had the number and he'd call... and call and call probably until one of them answered anyway.

Del left the asprin on the edge of the sink so he could take what he wanted and she slid into the spray of hot water. "mmmmm.." She hummed out the content sigh as the warmth and force of the water worked it's way over her.

The bathroom was scarier than he seemed to remember, but most of these places were scary like this. The one beauty of it was already soaking up the steam. Before the mirror fogged over completely, he looked at his sorry reflection, looking for signs, anything else that might make him wonder or worry. What if he had been bitten? What had he been bitten by? He didn't know the name of the thing, only that it had tried to keep him for dinner or worse. Letting go of his eyelids and running a palmfull of cold water over his face, he backed away from the mirror and threw down a couple of the aspirin on his way to join Del in the steam. He stopped a moment, listening for the phone, just in case.

She felt him in the room with her long before she pulled her head from beneath the spray to actually see or hear him moving in the small bathroom. Wiping the water away from her face, she reached out and ran a warm hand over his arm, pouting again and inviting him to finish joining her in the tub.

Can't argue with that, he thought, diving into the steam to ease the aches and get rid of that pout again. Sam was going to kill him, but he'd die a happy boy today if he did.

[tripp]

***********
10:45am

The hot water had run out over an hour ago, the bathroom floor was wet, the sheets and the bed were tangled and wet, her notes from the table had been knocked to the floor and now Delaney and Dean were on the floor tangled up in each other. The phone started ringing again, this was third time.. the first two times they'd ignored it. Delaney would be more than happy to keep ignoring it and continue to not ignore the very attentive Dean.

He groaned, knowing it had to be Sam and that it had to be a lot later than the half hour they started off with. He reluctantly rolled to his back and listened to locate the phone. It had been on the bed, but now? The room wasn't that big. He reached out to the edge of the bed and felt carefully, suspicious of god-knows-whatever-was left under it that the maids never picked up. The faint glow caught his attention as he looked and he crawled out to grab it, checking to make sure... yeah... it was Sam. "Man, I swear, if you weren't my brother... "

"You're an hour and forty five minutes late for breakfast, they are about to start serving lunch. Where the hell are you? I've been worried! I mean you being a little late is one thing but this is the third time I tried calling.. I thought maybe this mystery girl had taken you hostage or something." Sam kind of let into Dean for being a thoughtless ass and not calling or answering the phone. In their line of work and their lives, being late was no joke!

Delaney groaned slightly, feeling her lips pull down in a pout as he moved away to get her phone and answered it. It was 'Sam' again and she sighed softly. "He's not my brother.." She chuckled softly at her quietly spoken tease, the backs of her fingers running over Dean's arm.

He could hold the phone a foot away and hear the tantrum. He mimicked the 'i've been worried' like a sarcastic puppet as his eyes rolled. "Look, Sam, I didn't, she didn't and it's only friggin pancakes, okay? So we'll have burgers instead. Where are you? We're on our way." Whatever mood he'd had was broken thanks to the hiss on the other end of the phone and he stopped Del's fingers from making things worse. He turned the phone away a second to whisper 'we gotta go' .

The pout wasn't teasing now and she rolled her eyes, shifting her hand away as she sat up. "Thank you Sam.." She murmured as she rested her arm over her knees and took a look around at the 'damage' they'd done to the room.. at least that made her smile again.

"Dean, you're such a jerk.. would it have killed you to call and just tell me you weren't going to come?" He strummed his fingers on the table of the diner he was sitting in and smiled politely at the waitress who came back to refill his coffee again. "The Main Street Cafe.. think you can find it before dinner?"

"Well if you're giving me a choice... Yeah, I think we passed the place last night. Main Street Cafe.. We'll be there in fifteen minutes," he said, giving Delaney a glance to be sure since she was driving. If he was going on his own on foot, it was going take a little longer.

"Fine." Sam was annoyed as usual and he was also hungry which made him more cranky. "I'll still be here waiting." This time he hung up on Dean instead of the other way around.

Del rolled her head to the side as Dean looked at her, she gave him a small smile and then nodded her head. "Okay.. I guess you're taking me to lunch." She sighed and stretched a bit, realizing she was in fact pretty darn hungry.

"Sam's buying. No phone, no wallet," he shrugged. Not that he had any real money in the thing anyway - she'd taken his cash and the cards weren't exactly his own. Losing his phone in the scuffle worried him a little, but it would turn up.

"You sure Sam will want to buy me lunch since I took you hostage and all.. made you late and blah blah..?" She leaned to push her bare shoulder into him a little, teasing and keeping it kind of light. "I guess we should probably find our clothes.."

"You don't have to. I don't think he's seen a naked woman in at least two years," he offered, not in any hurry to find his own yet either.

"While I would normally be happy to do charity work I have to draw the line somewhere.. and I'm drawing it with being naked for your brother. And also passing on the getting arrested for public nudity.. I mean I could deal with the girl on girl but all the rules and bars and not being able to leave.. eh, not my thing."

"Promise me you'll talk dirty like that and tell me more later?" His thought were clearly fogged and pleasantly drifting to the images she'd just painted for him. "Okay, yeah, Chicken Little is nearly convinced the sky is falling and if he doesn't see us in fifteen, you can bet he's calling again. Girl on girl, huh? Maybe you can just... tell me the cliffs notes on the way?"

"And what are you going to do for me on the way?" She countered with an arched brow as she leaned to barely tease a kiss and a soft lick across his lips. She curled and shifted to stand up, slowly moving away from him.

"Daaaaaamn," he sighed, shaking his head to clear the fog. He bit his own lip, keeping the taste of her on his tongue for now until he could get some coffee. "I'll think of something, trust me."

Her chuckle floated softly out as she found her bag and rummaged for some clothes for herself, leaning to pick up his boxer briefs from the floor and toss them in his direction. Some tangled lace found her hand and she seperated the pieces and then pulled a little t-shirt from the bag and a clean pair of jeans. "Yes, one pair of clean socks left, we're good." She said out loud, doing a little 'victory dance' as she dropped the bag and set the socks on the table with her other clothes, which she quickly started slipping into.

He was tempted to grab the socks and hide them if she'd dance happy like that again when she found them, but there wasn't enough time to enjoy that. He put his own pieces back together again, looking at some of the notes he picked up from the floor in the process. She didn't seem to be quite like a hunter, but she was definitely something. "Hey... I think maybe.. we should bring these and the three of us do some talking."

[tripp]

She turned once she had everything but her shirt on, watching him pick up her notes and look at them. "Yeah?" Her jeans were undone and she had her socks on, she sprawled over the bed, kicking her feet in a curl toward her rear as she leaned over the other side to get her boots. "Sure.. we can do that.. there is a case for the laptop and that mess should fit into it if put back just the right way." She looked over her shoulder at him as she shimmied back to drop her legs down of this side of the bed, turning to pull the boots on. "Hand me my shirt?"

Well that was easy, he thought, although the story he was putting together from what little he'd seen so far was anything but. He gave her the shirt without an argument this time. "Yeah. I think we might be able to help."

"What?" She tilted her head to the side and then pulled her shirt over her head and smoothed it down. "You mean compare notes.. right?" She stood up and started to shuffle the papers into the front pocket of the case and the laptop itself in the large compartment. The journal was set on the table to be tucked in last.

"Yeah, something like that," he mumbled, trying to make heads or tails of it. He glanced at a few more of the sheets and tucked them and the laptop in the case. They didn't have a lot of time right now.

She slipped her knife in her boot and checked her pockets to make sure she had the essentials, grabbing her room key as she shrugged her jacket on and then picked up her phone. As she picked up the journal to tuck into the case she paused and gave Dean a long look. Something had changed and she wasn't sure what it was, maybe he was just switching into brush off mode and putting a gruff distance between them. She hadn't expected he'd want to hold hands and buy her flowers but something about how he was acting seemed off. "I'm ready, if you are." She said quietly reaching to pull the case from the table and head out the door.

"Let me get that," he offered, the smile still there, but weak, hidden behind deep thoughts that were running through all the anamolies. Coincidence, he scoffed to himself, but would she understand it the same way he did? "Not ready to face Mrs Butterworth and her cold pancake face, but I'll live."

She started to refuse and hold onto it, but after a moment she let it go and let Dean carry it for her. "This.. is a little wierd for me.. " She motioned to him carrying her stuff and chewed at her lower lip a little. With a small sigh she went to the door, holding it open for him to come out and making sure it was locked behind them. Her eyes stayed mostly on him, but darted around to watch the parking lot and beyond as she got into the car.

The case gave him something to hold onto in his hand that wouldn't feel the cold tension and the feeling that was resurfacing again now that he was awake and focused... and the aspirin had worn off. She'd caught a whiff of something.. maybe that's what bothered him most, how she seemed to sense more than most folks would or could. "I want to go back to that place, clean up a little... something just doesn't ring right," he mentioned as they got to the car.

Del started the car and didn't say anything to his comment at first, she didn't put the car in gear either. "Oh.. is that.. I mean.. wow, I suck at this." She chuckled, shook her head and finally looked over at him. "What I'm very badly trying to ask is, is that why you suddenly seem.. off, like something is bothering you?" She gave him a minute to answer as she turned her attention to getting the car in gear and moving toward the cafe, so they wouldn't keep his brother waiting again. Thankfully they weren't too far from where they needed to meet him.

"Maybe it's that you really don't have to ask?" He turned the question around a little. She knew more than she let on and had more or less told him as much. "Something is bothering me and I just need to be damned sure about it, that's all. It's not you," he added.

"It's not you.. isn't that what people say when it is you?" She chuckled a little though she wasn't really very amused and just kept her eyes on the road as they headed toward the diner. She didn't expect him to share anymore of what was on his mind and it wasn't as if he really had time to as she turned on main street and started looking for a place to park near the diner. They were lucky to find one right out front and she eased the car into the spot, then shut off the engine. "Food might help you think better on whatever it is.."

He hoped she was right about that. He was starving and dealing with Sam was likely to turn that on a dime too. "Let's hope it sweetens him up, some, too. C'mon. A burger is sounding better than anything right now."

Maybe for him it was but she wasn't so sure how having lunch with two well trained hunters was going to fare for her.. Sometimes her life just.. sucked worse than usual. "Right.. " She hoped food put them both in a better mood and eased some of the tension she could already feel from Dean and creeping into her as well. She got out of the car, habit had her leaning back in for her bag, she was used to the solo act.

Meanwhile inside, Sam was tapping his hand on his pant leg, fidgiting and checking his watch as he waited for Dean to show up with his mystery date and rescuer. He saw Dean finally through the window and sighed with relief.

[tripp]

November 29, 2009
Burksville, Kentucky
11am

He was two hours from the Louisville racetracks, but he swore he could smell the longshot payoff from these steps of the Burksville library as he paced. So much opportunity in these slow lazy Kentucky hills... "Hey! Crazy son of a....," he barked, nearly mowed down in the otherwise quiet street as he crossed over to the coffee shop while he swung his cell around, hoping to find some better signal than the two bars of service he was getting now. Dean dialed anyway. He needed coffee and he needed help. Sam was digging around solo, following a lead to Jamestown of all places. Hell if he knew whether his brother would even be back before the morning and the library closed too early and opened too late to wait... and breaking in to find books? Not in this lifetime. Sam was the bookworm. Dean was the people-person... usually. He walked in and smiled for the waitress as he took a seat, although the bun-haired woman looked him over with a grimace and kept on her rounds to slop luke-warm coffee in a few cups on her way back to the kitchen. He was listening to the ring-back, waiting for answer. The coffee house had some kind of wireless hookup with the dailies playing on a strangely modern flat-screen in the corner of the archaic little joint. He wasn't going to complain. The distraction of mindless television and the suddenly stronger signal made up for the tortures of the clashing 50's vinyl and medieval looking taxedermy projects that peered down from the walls that made even him shudder. "Creepy," he muttered, waiting for Del to answer and the waitress to come back with hopefully strong, burnt, heavily caffeinated mojo to keep him going.

The phone clicked on with the sound of loud classic rock playing which was turned down as Delaney's voice came over. "Talk to me." She pulled the flat soda up into her other hand, phone tucked to her shoulder and one hand on the wheel as she flew down the rural road a cloud of smoke fading from the old cabin behind her. She had rolled down the window a little to let the wind hit her face as she drove.

"Heeeey... morning sunshine," he smiled as the two most important women in his life showed up at once, especially the one with the coffee cup and now-steaming carraffe. The waitress raised an eyebrow at him and he pulled the phone away for that moment. "Thanks. I'll have the special," he told her, not knowing or caring what it was. He wasn't paying so it didn't matter, did it? He had his coffee and he had to talk to Del. The woman earned a wink after which she was ignored in favor of the call. "You're up early. Sounds like you're driving. Where're you headed?"

"Well hello there handsome.." Delaney smiled and winced as the split lip pulled open again. "Up late.. and I am driving. I was heading toward a shower, a beer, and a bed.. you know how I like shady motels. I just finished my case.." Not that she wasn't thrilled to hear from Dean, because god was she.. just his voice had her thinking.. "So.. what are you doing?"

"Great! Wait... finished what case? Nevermind, if you're done, maybe you can do me a favor. What do you know about cave-..." He about blurted out the questions he had when a plate was shoved across in front of him. Though it wasn't the best in appearance, it had enough to keep him going a while and the fries were hot. Was that a BLT? He looked under the bread and still wasn't sure, but nodded a thanks to the waitress who was already spinning off to be grumpy someplace else. He reached for the ketchup and and lowered his voice. "Cave dwellers, maybe old mines. You don't by chance have today's paper do you? I'm curious who the favorite is."

Del drove along for a moment with her mouth slightly agape, was he asking for her advise? Help? Her knowledge? That was something she'd never expected and it threw her for that moment. "Um.. depending on what type of cave-dwellers, I know a thing or two.. lots of things like dark dank places." Her thumb swept her lip both to clean the dab of blood and in thought. "I haven't had a chance to grab today's paper. It's part of the up all night-staking out a cabin in the woods thing. Where are you? or should I say, where am I heading?"

"Burksville, Kentucky. Went and saw grandma, you know how she likes to tell stories and all. I think she's got every newspaper clipping from this place since 1954," he said, hoping she'd understand a little about what he was piecing together. "No sign of Uncle Casper in twenty years, then folks all over are seeing him show up... except me and Sam."

"Uh huh.. " She started playing with the split on her lip now, the sting helping her to think and focus. "Maybe he doesn't like you.. did you boys regift him at christmas or on his birthday?" She made a turn, all her gear was in the car so she didn't have to go back to the motel. "Uncle Casper a big guy, all brute force and tearing up the place or is he more subtle.. all talk, try and scare you sort of fellow? I can be there in... maybe an hour, long as I don't get pulled over."

"A little of both from what I hear... kinda like Sammy," he grinned, slamming down a fry and washing it down with a large gulp from his cup. "Great. An hour works. I'll be looking through more clips until then." Convenient that it was only an hour, he thought, but wasn't looking that gift horse.. horses, sh*t. "Hey, pick up today's paper, too, would ya? Hey, thanks."

*********************************

Just over an hour later


Del rolled into Burksville at a relatively decent speed, dropping into the 'not too fast to get pulled over or call too much attention to herself' range. She'd made a stop for gas, the paper, and some fuel to keep herself going. She picked up her phone and dialed Dean's cell, waiting for him to answer so she'd know where to meet him once she got herself a room at whatever the local flavor of motel was.

"Where are you?" He sounded impatient and only a little distracted, possibly ready to pull his hair out which he was. His voice was lowered just the same and the line crackled as he walked quickly to find a spot where he could talk away from the 'hush zone' of the library his phone had already disrupted with its chaotic riff.

"Burksville.. where are you and where can I get a room?" She asked in return, grabbing the now cold cup of coffee and sucking down the last of it before tossing the empty cup on the floor.

"Don't worry about the room right now, just get down here," he said, giving her the cross streets and the corner where he'd be waiting. "You have the news on? You might want to listen."

"Well aren't you a bucket of sunshine.. I'll be there in a few minutes." She didn't bother waiting for a reply, closing her phone and flipping to find the news to listen to what she could for the short drive to pick up the guy on the corner. She laughed at that thought, her hand dropping away from the radio dial as she found the broadcast, her other hand on the wheel and her eyes on the road, watching the street names to find what she was looking for then turning down and looking for her grumpy boy.

The local news was repeating its announcement every few minutes... another missing person report which must have been big news in a town where no one ever went anywhere. If she caught it at the right moment, she'd hear the updated total was now nine and their friend Uncle Casper had a new name if the convict under suspicion had anything to do with any of it. The look on Dean's face as Del pulled up would probably only show her that he doubted that aspect of the case completely, having another idea or four in mind.

She slowed as she saw Dean up ahead, her car rolling to a stop near where he stood, she knew he was watching for her and waited for him to get his very nice a** in the car before letting it start to roll forward again. "Where to first?" She asked, reaching for and then realizing her coffee was all gone.

He climbed in and leaned over with the only smile he could manage at the moment which was a half smirk. "Know any place with hard rock, loose women and cold beer? I'd settle for two out of three." He looked up, somewhat hopeful, but still distracted by the reason he'd called her out here to start with.

"The kind of women who like me.. wouldn't be interested in you." She met his smile with a quick kiss, resting her warm fingers on his cheek for a moment and letting her teasing words sink in.. though there was a chance she was serious about that comment. Her hand flipped the dial on the radio back to the rock station and she scanned out along the street for the closest store. "I'm sure I can come with something.. bag on the back seat, not ice cold but not warm either."

"Really?" Was she shittin' him? He looked to humor her and found the bag was there and his smile widened. "There is a god... goddess.. sorry. I'll tell you what I've got if you want to drive through town a few times or we can go to the room and put that on ice."

"I know what you have and if you show me while driving through town you'll land us both in cuffs.. ooo tempting." She winked at him as he appreciated some of the loot from her stop at the store on her way here. "Alright you talked me into it.. we'll go back to your room."

"Sorry I twisted your arm so hard," he muttered, biting back the smile between his teeth and trying not to make her pull over somewhere in a parking lot. Tempting... she'd got that right. "Turn left at the light, it's the dump at the end of the road with the waving monkey."

"What can I say... sometimes I like it rough.." She sucked air in over her teeth and shrugged, following his directions to find the place he was staying. The directions were simple enough and she was glad for that as she found herself a little distracted by the guy next to her. She pulled into the lot doing her best not to laugh at the waving monkey and looking for the impala or for him to point out which room was theirs.

"Number 18... that end," he sighed. Sam wasn't back yet and neither was the car. That particular pain and worry crossed his face, pulling the smile down a little. The monkey freaked him out as it was. "The Great Esc-Ape motel... that's just dandy," he groaned. He'd been too tired to see the sign when they'd pulled in the night before.

"Right.. gotcha." Del nodded and brought the car down to park in front of the room, there was plenty of room for Sam and Dean's metal baby when they got back. Del ran her hand over her face and rolled her shoulders to ease some of the tension from the drive and the long night before it. "Mind grabbing that?" She nodded to the bag with the beer and some food, as she got out and went to gather her laptop and another small bag with a change of clothes and a few of her tools in it.

[tripp]

Jan 5, 2010
Beech Island, South Carolina
11:15 p.m.

The plantation house had a reputation as did most old properties in the area. So and so lived here, or there, or over in that place, pointed the man from the slow moving trolley car they'd ridden earlier that day, crookedly outlining an equally crooked history of a bygone era. Enough nuggets of truth had etched the man's story for Sam to dig deeper into the mystery that brought them here. Another handful of articles and the matched outline of a faded photograph and he was convinced this was place. He held the flashlight on the lock and watched around them out into the darkness, turning in time to grab Dean's foot just as he was about to kick in the back door, unseen from the road. "Dude! That door is a piece of history!"

"So? It's a back door Sam. No one's going to see it until we're history, too," Dean shrugged, pulling his boot out of Sam's grip and trying to not topple over.

"So?!... The lock alone is worth more than we've seen in our lifetime. Picking it won't smash it to kingdom come. Just... hurry up," Sam said, glancing around fitfully, almost nervous now.

"Make up your mind, Sammy. You can't rush perfection," Dean grinned, hearing the tumbler turn gracefully with little effort from the end of the novelty naked-girl bottle opener he'd picked up from the local gas station. "Hah, well lookie there, maybe you can. Entrez-vous," he smirked, kissing the metal and vinyl opener before tucking 'her in his pocket.

"These people weren't French, Dean. And we're not at Mardi Gras. Look at this place," Sam said, stepping in and shining the light around the entry way over dozens of sheet-covered relics. A few pieces peeked out for show in their rich mahogany and brass finishes that breathed their warmth into the room for over a century. "Huh. Looks like the place has been a little busy. Notice anything strange?"

Dean shrugged again, beaming his own light around the walls and to a stair case that bent around above them. "We missed Scarlet and Rhett on their way to the romper room upstairs?"

Her wrists hurt where she'd been tied and struggled to get free of the ropes, but odd as it may seem Elisabeth hadn't been hurt much by her kidnappers. At least she found it odd, especially with how much of a fight she'd put up. These men had been so strong and she wasn't able to fight them off which is how she found herself in the dark room feeling along to wall trying to locate the latch for the door to get herself out of there. They'd left her in the room to prepare for something, she didn't plan to still be there when they got back to find out what exactly that was and what they had meant by the things they had said. Or what had happened to the other girls who had been in the room with her, all taken out but never returning.

Elisabeth felt like screaming again but where was she and who would hear her? It hadn't worked before and she'd come to believe that the men had physically left the building and that was when the thought of escaping crept into her mind.

"Damn it! let me out!" The frustration got to her enough to make her call the words out and slam her hand flat against the wall.

The man came from one of the upstairs rooms, his feet thudding heavily on the stairs as he came down with the silk garmet in his hand for the girl who was locked in the hidden room.

He looked at his brother to see him looking back with the same gears clicking the instant the girl's voice was heard, though it was muffled. Sam was taking the first step toward the far wall, looking for the connecting corridor and other rooms when the stairs above them creaked. He turned off his flashlight in a half a heartbeat and jumped back under the narrow shelter the staircase provided, patting Dean's shoulder and pointing to only protective piece of furniture between them and the open view of the room.

Dean looked at Sam like he'd lost his mind. The chair wouldn't have hidden a three-year-old let alone him, his pack and his boots... and the sizeable glare that seared the air between them at the moment. He glanced behind them as he ducked as low as he could. The door was still open... son of a b*tch. He sighed silently, his eyes rolling the glare up into his brain as he tried to think of some way out of this one. He would much rather spend the night in the motel tonight, not the county jail on the night before a full moon.

The man who came down the stairs, started to whistle softly, a smile coming to his face as his fingers ran over the silk of the chemise, his master would be quite pleased. He sighed at the sound of the girl banging behind the large china cabinet. "Patience my dear." He stopped, his head tilting to the side as he came to the first floor and felt the breeze from the open door. "I have to attend to our guest, then we'll get you all pretty for your date." With that the door slammed shut and he turned to find the intruders.

Crap. Dean knew what the man was almost before he turned and the door shut. The suddenness still made Dean jump and crouch lower, trying to escape the man's gaze. What was he thinking? This guy could probably smell them and hear everything. Where was Sam? He tried to get a sense of where his brother was without making any quick movement until he absolutely needed to. He braced himself for discovery and tried to get the earmarked page in the journal in his jacket ready to flip a quaint little exorcism into action as soon as the opportunity presented itself - if he didn't get his own head ripped off first. Sam!? He screamed silently in his head, hoping he was paying attention.

Sam was paying attention, alright, wishing that the vial of holy water in his pocket hadn't sealed itself quite so tight to undo with one hand. Meanwhile he needed to be sure this was the one they were here to release back to Hell. It was one of them, but was it -the- one they were after during this little party? The charm he fumbled with in the other hand was turned outward like a baseball-sized shield in front of himself, meant to hold the demon's attention as well as Solomon's seal would which they hadn't had a chance to chalk out yet. If it wasn't the one they were after, it was nothing more than a circus prize and not even as nicely made although the 'witch' who made it took pride in her designs.

The chair which Dean hid behind flung itself out of the way as the demon started toward him first. "What are you doing here?" He sort of chuckled to himself, his eyes pure black as he advanced. "Not that it will matter in a moment."

Elisabeth stood with her ear pressed against the wall, trying to listen to the muffled sounds on the other side. She'd heard the comments the man had called out to her about her impending date and it had left her with a cold chill crawling over her skin. Her hands slapped against the wall more frantically, pawing at it in desperate effort to get out.

The demon's head turned sharply, his eyes narrowing on the wall and the sounds of the girl within. Soon enough she'd belong to his master until then.. he growled and his head turned again, this time his gaze falling on Sam. "Bumbling boys to rescue the damsel in distress.. how cute."

Dean stood and backed away from where the chair was, intent on distracting the thing as it approached Sam. "Hey! Yeah... uh, isn't this 1701 Sycamore Lane? We're with Ace Restoration Company....? We came to get the oak credenza? Oh man... it was 'Lane' wasn't it? Sorry, our GPS went out in the truck on the way here and every street starts looking the same around here. Nice rich place like the South, here... psh.. you think they could buy a few more street names, huh?" He tried to act the part of a worker, all smiles and humor, though his eyes darted for Sam to make a break for someplace other than the nice solid dead end behind himself.

"How unfortunate for you that you're an idiot." The demon turned with an amused smile and with a flick of his wrist sent Dean flying into the wall. Even if Dean had actually been lost and a worker of some sort, he would have met with the same fate. Whatever he was, he was an annoying human who was in the way and interupting very important preparations, though breaking the men would be an amusing diversion for a few minutes.

Sam winced but took the opening for what it was, mouthing the word in disbelief... credenza? What the ...? Then again... Hell was why they were here and he could ask later while they taped Dean's ribs. The crack sounded as unpleasant as it looked. At least his jacket gave him some padding, Sam hoped. The half second he was given was enough to get away from the wall and closer to the center of the room. If only Dean didn't have the journal right now. He did his best from memory, though, still holding out the rough clay medalion at arm's length and reciting the beginning of the latin exorcism through a determined and clenched jaw.

Dean groaned as he pulled air back into his lungs that had so abruptly expelled it to begin with. Sam has asked if he'd noticed anything when they came in but all he noticed now was the familiar sounds of latin being spewed. He pulled himself up from the floor and tried to remind himself to keep breathing as he pulled the book from his jacket.

He was stopped for a moment as the 'boy' began spewing latin.. an exorcism to boot. "The oak credenza?" The demon laughed, smiling even though Sam was doing well from memory. As per the usual fanfare of such things the house began to shake and rumble, the sheets flying up and the furniture sliding across the floor. The china cabinet that blocked the hidden doorway came sailing across the floor toward Sam.

Then of course there was the light show, the power surging and lights flickering on and off, the rumbling continuing and the plaster around them begining to crack and crumble with the force.

"Sam!" As if the scraping shriek of the cabinet's legs sailing over the refurbished hardwood didn't alert him first, Dean called attention to the hurtling furniture. That was all the strength he had in his chest at the moment, coughing out a pained expletive as he lost his place in the book and tried to locate the page quickly to help his brother.

Sam was well aware of the cabinet, but his determination made him brace his footing and keep going. His head tilted an 'I don't think so' and his stare became sharper as if it would drill the words deeper into the demon as he took a small step out of the path, bringing him closer to the fiend.

Due to the cracking and shaking of the walls, the china cabinet being moved, and Elisabeth's frantic efforts, the latch on the hidden panel clicked and the door slid open. Elisabeth came tumbling out with a startled cry at the sudden shift of what she thought was a wall and losing her balance as the opening was revealed.

The demon hissed at Sam, this time going for a couch to hurl itself at the boy, but the words of the exorcism which Sam spoke made the demon twist in agony. "You're just wasting your time boy! Others will come.. " The demon fell to it's knees, screeching and the fury of it's fight increased for a moment, the rumbling and rattling making it sound as if the house would come down on them. "She is his.. you can't stop it!.. you can't stop... aaaahhh.."

Dean wasn't sure what fell into him, but his fist full of journal was out to clock whatever it was coming out of wherever it had emerged from that wasn't a door before. The girl! The fists made way to grab hers as she fell and swung out into the room, trying to keep her out of harm's way if she was really human. She had to be or the exorcism would affect her too, wouldn't it? "Hurry it Sammy, I got her. Let's go! Deus-ex-machina this sonofab*tch so we can get the big guy and get out of here before his friends show up.!"

Sam's litany was clipped as the couch rammed his leg, pinning him between that and the cabinet that had already gone askew. His voice then rose louder over Dean's to continue and he glanced over at him and the girl. There might have been others - they'd have to search that room. Finally the vial opened and he pulled it out to splash the small amount of the stinging liquid across this thing's face.

Elisabeth grunted a little as she crashed into someone, a man. Her eyes went wide in immediate fear, assuming he was one of her kidnappers and she slapped at him. "Let me go!" It did register in her frightened mind that he'd caught her and the words that followed, the swinging stopped and she stared at Dean. "So.. you're not with 'him'.. whoever he is.. ooops.. sorry.." She apologized for the slap and her head turned to watch what was happening between the other two. "Is that latin?" She knew it was and her eyes widened again as she realized what the words meant. "That's.. an exorcism?" It wasn't that she didn't know that it was, it was more disbelieving that she was witnessing it.

The demon laughed as if amused by the attempts. "You think you've won with your words and water.. but you're nothing. You can't stop us and you can't save her." A moment later it shrieked and fell back, hand coming up to cover it's face as the holy water burned like acid. "No! nnnnooooooooooo." The demon protested as it was expelled from the human body, it writhed and the house shook, a black mass rose out of the body and then seemingly exploded in the air. The rumblings stopped and everything was still and quiet again.

"I'll live. Stay down," Dean said, putting the cooler back of his hand against the sting on his face. The steam began to rise as the water was thrown and Dean turned, shielding her as the evil force within the other man erupted into the room and sought escape. Once the room was calm again he let go. "Sorry. We're not exactly in the clear. Who else is with you? Sammy, upstairs, c'mon!"

Sam caught his own breath, finally getting upset at the pain in his leg and pushing the couch away awkwardly so he could move. He staggered back, bruised but not broken and scrambling over to the other two. "Not bad, but careless. I think I left out a bunch, but it still worked. Where's the other amulet? This guy hardly blinked at the first one, we'll probably need both of them now." He glanced up at the girl, offering a nod and grin but didn't have the concentration to be cordial and welcoming yet as he grabbed for the pack and their tools.

Confused was an understatement and Elisabeth stared at the two brothers in shock as they went on about their business as if this was something normal for them. "I was alone when they took me.." She tried to concentrate to answer the questions. "No one else is with me.... not anymore. There were others, in that room.. but they're gone.." She shook her head, her hand lifting to her forehead as she glanced up the stairs and then back into the other room. "Oh my god." Her mouth dropped and she started toward the man on the floor.

"That's just great," Dean groaned, trying to walk her around the mess, keeping between her and the body and wondering how to keep her nearby without her getting hurt or too deeply involved or traumatized. "Hey, we'll send his wife some flowers, okay? Right now, just don't think about it. We're going upstairs first, check it out, make sure there's nobody else blowing smoke, okay? This place got a downstairs that you know of?"

Sam had another amulet on a string and held it out for Dean to grab a hold of, thinking better of it and holding it out to her instead. "Tell you what - hold onto this. You see anyone come at you that isn't one of us, hold that in front of you... kinda like a cross, but it isn't and these aren't vampires, okay?"

"He doesn't have a wife!" She snapped at Dean trying to move around him as he was trying to move around her to keep her from the body, it was a bit of a comical dance for a moment until Sam held the amulet up to her. Her eyes went wide and she gasp, taking a step back. "What the hell is going on?" Her eyes moved from the amulet to the body and back and her eyes closed. "This isn't happening to me. This.. is just.. " She looked to Dean and Sam as if asking them to say this was just a dream, that this wasn't her life. "Do you think this will work?" Her voice was a whisper and she pulled up the front of her shirt to reveal the top of a tattoo which looked very much like the amulet etched into her lower abdomen. "Please tell me this is just one of those really messed up dreams.."

Sam looked a little more worried as he saw the similarity of the marks. "Dean... I think we have a problem. What do you make of that?" He pointed out the tattoo and showed him the charm again.

"Make of what?" He looked at the girl's mark and the charm and shrugged, getting his flashlight working again to see them both better. He flashed the light up at Sam a moment. "Just like every damned street around here being Sycamore, it's probably the only tattoo the shop had. I don't know! You're the walking encyclopedia, Dr Peabody. Why don't you tell us, huh? If you think they'll wait for the class to be over before the others storm in here."

"It was Mr Peabody," Sam corrected quietly, turning and shielding his eyes from the light in his face. "Dean, think about it. They took the others but not her. Why do you think that is?"

"Hey this is all very interesting.. what does it mean and is my uncle dead?" She asked, her voice bordering on hysterical, but held under control for the moment. "Either of you want to fill in the blanks a little? My mother had this done when I was like ten.. right before she died.. that's the only reason I never had it removed."

"It kept you from becoming like him, so far at least," he nodded to body. "Apparently they haven't seen it yet, or someone thought of something to help fix it so it wouldn't keep them from you." Sam commented, looking around the room as his eyes readjusted to the dim surroundings. "Means you don't need the amulet. I think."

"That was your uncle?" Dean had a sudden moment of clarity to connect the information while Sam explained a little.

"Okay.. so maybe mom wasn't such a paranoid crazy drunk like my grandmother always said she was." She let go of her shirt, her hands shifting to rub over her arms as if she was cold. "Umm yeah my father's brother Bill." She kind of nodded toward the man on the floor, her tongue running over her lips. "Umm there is a cellar and an attic here if it matters.. " Her eyes darted between Sam and Dean as she concentrated on breathing and not screaming.

Uncle Bill gasped and his hand clutched at the air , a low moan coming from him as he lay on the floor. Blood dribbled out of the corner of his mouth, but he was trying to speak.

"Geeezus... he's not dead?" Dean muttered and looked at the others. "What's he saying, Sam?" He wasn't letting the girl get too close to her recent captor even though the smoke had cleared for the moment.

Sam knelt near the man that had been broken and abused to the demon's will, looking for signs that he might continue to fight. Taking that chance, he leaned closer to hear the man's words. "Hang on!" He barked back at Dean, trying to decipher the speech around the gurgles.

Dean sighed and shone the light from Sam back to the stairs and the room she'd come out of, looking for other information they could use. He spoke quietly over his shoulder to her. "How long were you in there? When were the others taken? Over the past couple of nights or longer?"

"Do..n't let El.. Eli.. go.. home.." The man gasped out the words, trying to warn them of what he knew from having the demon inside him. He took a weezing gurgled breath and his eyes closed. "K..keep.. her.. sa..safe.." He was fading, but hanging on to try to tell them what he needed to. "Her.. moth..er.. was.. right.. father.. gr..and.. mo..ther... dan..ger.." He sort of made a choking sound and nothing more came from him.

Elisabeth was torn between rushing to her uncle and being frightened of him and what had happened, knowing that he'd been responsible for at least some of it. "Ahh a few days at least.. I'm not sure how many there were.. we were always kept in the dark in there.. tied to the chair.. at least I was." She followed slowly behind Dean, biting at her lip. "Um there were at least four taken before me.. always made them change into these.. " She bent to pick up the discarded chemise and showed it to him. "..but the others were red.. this one is white.."

"So what do you know that you're not telling us?" Sam said, turning on her sharply, absent of his usual compassionate nature.

"Sam?!" Dean was confused. He'd missed something, but what? Sam never turned on anyone and moved between him and the girl as he stared her down, pushing him back. "What's wrong with you, hah?"

"History, Dean. That's all, just history," he said, shuffling his weight as if getting ready for another fight. "Just asking her what she might know since she's got family we need to watch out for. He's protecting her from something and I want to know what it is."

"What do you mean?" She asked from behind Dean, looking over his shoulder at Sam, confused and concerned. "What did he say? Maybe if I had a clue as to what you're implying.. I might be able to tell you something. I don't have much family left.. my father and my grandmother.. and him but.." She motioned toward her uncle who had seen better days. "My mother and my sister both died years ago.."

Sam rummaged inside his jacket, dropping the amulet in the chest pocket and bringing out a couple of newspaper clippings about a couple of mysterious disappearances. "Do any of these look familiar to you?"

"We don't have time for this," Dean grumbled, shoving his brother's shoulder half-heartedly and turning away from them both, his hand running over his mouth, the other holding up the journal as an idea came to him.

Elisabeth was left glancing between the two not sure who to listen to and her head nearly spinning from everything that had happened so far. "Ah.." She looked at the clippings Sam held out and nodded. "I saw her.. I'm positive it was her.. and yeah.. her too." Her teeth pulled at her lower lip and her hands shook a little. "Are they.. do you think they're dead?"

Dean flipped pages and seemed to land on what he was looking for while they looked at the clips. "How many years did you say, Sam? Look at this. Dad had something... check this out. Sycamore... I knew it!" He held out the paragraph of scribbles.

Sam was paying attention to the girl. "What's your name? He's Dean, I'm Sam," he said, changing the subject a little and trying to make this easier for her, though he felt he owed her the truth, though he just wasn't sure now was the time to pay up. "Look, uh... We need to check the rest of the place, see if we find anyone else, okay?"

She swallowed a lump in her throat as the guy.. Sam sort of avoided answering her question which sort of made the answer yes anyway. "Um.. Eliz.." She paused and cleared her throat. "Elizabeth. Some people call me Eli.." She nodded to Sam and then to Dean looking at the book he held out and realizing it was more of a journal. "So.. umm are you guys like.. professionals or something? Do you do this often.. with the.." She gestured toward the gear and her uncle. ".. exorcisms and all? That's what that was.. I mean I know latin.. my grandmother was big on making me learn it above and beyond.. anyway.. um.. what does that say about Sycamore?"

"Only when we have to," Sam said, admitting more than he probably should have as he took the book and looked over what Dean had pointed out. "It's a legend, actually. A folktale... looks like it started in Colonial times... no wait... it came before the colonies. It says that a pastor of a sect that was considered heretical under the Church of England.. go figure.. came here to start a new congregation during the pilgrimage. The sycamore tree with its deep roots is the symbol of the sect ...because its roots are said to touch the heart of the earth and the ring of god's heaven at once."

"Exactly," Dean said, providing his take on Sherlock Homles. "The heart of earth... Hell, Sam. It's a portal for demons. No wonder this place is crawling with them."

"That's.. " She started but then her face went kind of pale and she started to look around the house that they were in, she took a step back reaching for the wall to try to steady herself. "So.. how.. how do you think.. I fit into this?" She felt a bit ill, but swallowed hard and tried not to let the creeping chill walk over her skin. "This is all just.. random.. right..?"

"Not really," Dean continued, watching her move back like she knew without him telling. "It goes on to say about the guy with this church handing over offerings. Tell me if this doesn't ring a bell, Sammy... want an apple? Look, it looks like what's going on here has to do with what was started a couple hundred years ago at least and is still going on... either descendents of this guy's followers or..."

"Or this guy," Sam interrupted. "It says the offerings were meant for preservation... not like apples for food, but like preserving youth. Check this out. See his picture? Now look at this clipping... that's from 1920 something. You know this guy?" He showed her the photos.

Any color that was left in her face drained away and she actually swayed a bit as she stared at the clipping and picture they showed her. Her mouth opened as if to say something but she could only shake her head in disbelief for a moment. It took several tries before the whisper finally came out. "It's not possible.. that's not.. it can't be.. " Her head started to shake more insistantly that what they were showing couldn't be true. "No..no..nonono.." Her arm went around her middle as she pulled herself away and curled, nearly doubling over, her other hand coming up over her mouth.

"I think that means she knows him," Dean said off-hand, looking at the pictures and the lapse of time. "Looks like junior really is just like dear old great-great-grand dad," he noted, forgetting to notice how upset she seemed by that.

"I don't think it's junior, Dean. That's what I'm saying. From her reaction, she doesn't either. Who's the man in the picture, Eli?" Sam was a little more sympathetic, realizing she was upset enough to look like she might faint.

"It can't be him.." She whispered it again, as if talking to the wall she seemed to try to shrink against, her gaze slowly lifted to Sam. Her eyes pleaded for it not to be true, she shook her head and took a deep breath, looking into Sam's eyes and whispering again. "My father." That answer sent her whole world askew, everything she knew or thought she did seemed to shatter with saying it, with even considering the possibility that this could all be true.

Dean looked over at Sam for a way to say it differently... no luck. "Look, there's a reasonable explanation for this, but, uh... our version of reasonable and yours probably aren't the same, so how about we just say they're closely related and we'll talk about the family reunion when we're done here, okay? Upstairs first, see if Mother Bates is still hanging around in the attic or whatever, but I want to get out of here, okay? Stay close."

"How about 'please' stay close, okay?" Sam smiled briefly trying not to let Dean's rambling set him off. "It'll make sense eventually, we just need to get more information. Think you'll be okay?"

Elisabeth just stared at him and then let out a soft short laugh. "Okay? Am I going to be okay? Ohh sure.. I'm not going okay!" She exclaimed in a whisper as she steadied herself and took another deep breath. "A little advice Sam.. never ask someone if they are going to be okay after you tell them their father is the head of some hell worshiping sect.. and you know he's like what a couple hundred years old? Unfortunately I'm not a moron. I may be nearly hysterical but I'm wicked smart and all the pieces you two are tossing around are now in my brain. Thank you very much! Now gimme a flashlight, I know this house better than you, I used to spend summers here as a kid. What are we looking for?"

"She's got a point, Sammy. Way to go. Give her the flashlight and -we'll- just go on upstairs and look for clues. Him and Ann Landers... they're tight," Dean teased on Sam's behalf, holding out the pack of tools for her to help with as long as she was going to be with them anyway.

"Nevermind that she's dead," Sam muttered, stepping off to the staircase with the light. "There's a small maglite in the bag. We're looking for anything that can help us find out what to do about stopping ... whatever it is that looks like your father... from doing anything worse than he has. People have been dying and it has to stop."

She reached for the pack and dug for the small flashlight, pulling it into her hand and holding the bag with the other. "Alright.. sorry.. I'm a little tramatized and over sensitive right now. I shouldn't have snapped at you, right or not.." Eli offered Sam a brief smile and turned to follow Dean up the stairs. "Are you serious about the attic? There is a staircase that leads up to it at the end of the hall on the left side. The second floor has some large bedrooms and a sitting room, but that's pretty much typical."

"A lot of what we've found has some connection with this place, other than the fact that you're here and we seem to have a positive ID in the lineup. Could mean it's the place or it just happens to be the place these de-... Shhhh... " Sam stopped in mid-step and word, listening up to the top, thinking he'd heard something. The demons already knew they were here, but being prepared for the next fight wouldn't hurt.

Dean ducked back instinctively and kept an eye out to the lower level as well. "Probably got the cavalry showing up about now," he whispered, looking for the amulet Sam had. "Attic... end of the hall? Hope we make it that far."

Eli swallowed hard and started to take a step back, finding a wall of Sam behind her, not a bad road block in a different situation.. in this one it was semi comforting to be reminded the boys were here to help. She whispered like Dean had pointing up in the direction of the attic. "If it's.. like a conspiracy thing.. then that might be Jim. He's worked for my family for years and is usually around if my uncle is. There is a large.. wicked old sycamore tree right behind the house.. sort of directly in front of the room at the top of this landing." She didn't know if the information would be useful to them or not, but they seemed to know what they were doing and she had little choice but to help them.

"Yeah, what other kinda tree would it be?" Dean bemoaned, looking for 'Jim' as he started moving up the stairs, pulling his gun out now, though if Jim was being used like her uncle it wouldn't do much good. He was going to at least make it to the attic and if he had to, he'd find that window and get back outside.

As Eli bumped into him, Sam's ears rang quietly with that sort of buzz of intuition or thinking he heard someone calling a name in the distance. It was strange but familiar somehow. He steadied himself on the step and held her arm to keep her from falling back further. "It's ok. If it is Jim, we kinda know what to expect now."

Her gaze shifted down to Sam's hand on her arm and as weird as it may seem for having just met him, something about it was comforting beyond just the present situation. She blinked the feeling away and thought it odd to think about whether she'd see him again after this.. "Right.. can I still hope it's just the house settling?" Eli let a small smile out briefly and looked up the stairs again, listening to the sounds of someone moving.. ".. in the room.. the clink, it's the fireplace pokers.. I think."

"Hope it's not settling for a snack," Dean retorted, hitting the landing and not seeing anything in the hallway though there were a couple doors yet before the end of the hall.

"Which room, can you tell?" Sam encouraged her to keep going upward, at least keep moving.

"The one right at the top there has a fireplace.. " She started moving forward again but didn't have time to say much more as the door opened and Jim stepped into the hall. His eyes had that same strange all black appearance that her uncle's had had before the laitn. "Oh.. well I guess that answers that question." For whatever reason she felt brave enough to keep moving forward, even if she just distracted Jim for a minute.. "Hey Jim.."

Jim seemed to stare sort of blankly at Eli for a moment, then a cold smile crossed his face. He glanced at the men with her and reached forward as if grasping the air, only Eli was jerked forward up the last couple of steps as if roughly grabbed and pulled. "Hello Elisabeth."

Dean had caught his breath well enough by now. He had his own greeting for the man trying to pull Eli off the stairs, diving at him to push him back and throw his concentration. It wasn't the smartest plan he'd had, realizing as he looked through the spindles that lined the edge of the stairs and landing just how many feet of free-fall there were between the dusty hallway and the floor of the drawing room below.

"Eli!" Sam reached for her as she was pulled from his side as abruptly as Dean had been thrown a few minutes before. Then his brother was launched forward under his own power and Sam vaulted right behind him to help. Remembering the amulet, he yanked it from his pocket and tried it on this one. If this was another one of the big bad's clowns, it wouldn't work, but maybe it would distract him enough to get a clean hit on him. "Hey Jim! I got somethin' for ya!" He held out his hand with the clay design shown clearly in his palm.

Eli yelped softly as she was yanked up, but no one touched her, she heard Sam call her name and her head turned toward him, her expression full of fear and suprise. "Jim, please!" She tried to reason with the man, who wasn't really a man anymore, her gaze going back to him to see his totally black eyes. Dean jumped and then so did Sam and they broke Jim's concentration which caused him to throw Eli to the side, the wall made a cracking sound as she hit the plaster hard enough to knock her breath out for a moment. The release was short as Jim lifted her again and tossed her into the room behind them like she was a rag doll.

The symbol didn't work on this demon as he was just and underling to the big bad they were looking for and he laughed at their efforts. "Fools.. you can't save her and you've come unprepared." He grinned, even though the boys had knocked him back into the wall and momentarily broke his concentration.

"Yeah? What makes you say that, huh?" Dean had his flask out, turning the top off quickly to splash the SOB with his own douse of holy water. It would only delay him, not shut him down. "Sam... " His expression said 'shit' louder than he could have blurted it as the girl was yanked aside again out of reach. He let the water seer its way to whatever effect it would have and went after Eli.

The talisman was slipped out of harm's way as Sam's jaw locked as sharply as his gaze and he began to spit the latin verse again more succinctly than before. He wouldn't screw it up twice.

Jim thrashed and stumbled as the burning water was poured on him, he was shaking it off as Sam started the verse of latin. "Son of a b*tch." He hissed and the doors in the hall slammed closed. "I'm not going anywhere!"

Eli was on the floor, holding her middle and slowly pushing herself up on her knees, she'd hit the table and skidded off to the floor near the fireplace. "Damn.. " Her gaze fell on the poker that was in the middle of the fire, realising it wasn't a poker at all.

Dean stopped short of tumbling over her and saw what she stared at. "That's not the work of your average colonial smithy," he grumbled, both fascinated and disgusted by the crude metal implement that all but screamed out 'cruel and unusual' just idly resting in the coals. He half expected it to lift itself and come flying at them. He reached down to help the girl up. "Anything broken? Can you get out of here and to the attic?"

"... in nominee patris...," Sam continued, tossing a good punch in the mix as he invoked the heavenly father's name, intent on getting Jim's body to let loose of the thing inside it, fully aware that Jim probably wasn't of sound body to survive his efforts.

"I'm going to rip your heart out." Jim seethed at Sam, stumbling but still fighting and swinging back at him, a bit of it's power helping to try to push Sam off balance.

Eli nodded to the getting up part, grabbing Dean's hand to help her get to her feet. "Bruised.. not broken.. ouch.. why are we going up and not out?" She asked, reaching to touch the corner of her mouth where her lip was bleeding a little.

"Because there's something here we still need to find," Dean explained, helping her steady herself. "We only get one shot and we have to be quick about it. Once Jimbob out there gets out of the way, that is. Excuse me." Once she was standing, he was convinced enough for now that she'd be okay, but not if the man in the hall took another swing at her. What the hell, he shrugged, grabbing the iron and brandishing it in front of himself. "Sammy... !"

"Whoa," Sam said, first dodging a swing from Jim then ducking from the doorway as Dean came barreling out. The verse was stopped for the moment and Sam felt himself geting tossed toward the weapon instead. His shirt had a singed gape in it as Dean swung past, nearly impaling him as he reached for the door jamb for support. "What the hell is that thing?"

Eli didn't really have time to question further as Dean grabbed the 'poker' from the fire and took off out of the room. "Oh geez.." She almost laughed, it was like a movie, except somehow this was her life.. Eli followed a little more slowly to the doorway, she heard Sam's question and spoke from not far behind him. "I think what they were going to use to remove the protective mark my mother put on me." She swallowed as Dean lashed out at Jim with the hot piece of metal. "What can I do to help?"

Jim was weakened some by the attempts of Sam to pull the demon from his body, but he wasn't out yet and he grappled for the poker as Dean came brandishing it. He screamed as he was burned but still grasped at the hot metal and tried to slam Dean into the wall. "I remember how your mother screamed.. being burned alive in that car.. I bet if you think carefully you'll remember too." He taunted Eli as he struggled with Dean.

Thrown by the momentum, Dean was pushed backward, but he didn't let go of the poker. He was reminded of his already bruised ribs as he took the brunt of the blow, but he leveraged back, using all his weight to thrust demon and metal back the other way toward the railing on the landing. "Sam, finish him!"

As Jim flipped from attacking Sam to going after his brother, Sam began the next part of the verses, getting his vial out again for another splash.

Jim was right and Eli sort of flinched, turning her face away, how many nights had she awoken with the screams of her mother and sister echoing in her ears after the 'accident'? She could hardly remember it, but had nightmares about it and Jim's words stung. "Shut up!"

He laughed because he'd gotten to her, it was part of what demons liked to do.. though if she hadn't been claimed already he could come up with several more. Of course the situation being what it was.. "Always fancied a go with you Elisabeth.. precious precious girl.. when he's done with you, I'll asked for what's left. You'll scream pretty for me.. won't you?" The demon growled as Sam started the verses again, almost roaring and it let go of the poker, turning on the younger of the two brothers.

Sam wasn't thrilled with the remarks or the tone. The girl had been through enough already tonight and didn't need more painful blows. He didn't back down from the attempts the demon made now, turning up the conviction and emphasis as he spoke the holy words.

The iron was cooling, but not cold and the demon was turning his attention away. Dean gathered his balance splashed a bit of the holy water above the still-glowing end of the poker. The heat would be nothing to the demon in a piercing blow, but the water from the inside? He did his best to drive the metal through the once-human man's core.

The show was pretty much the same as it always was with the dispelling of a demon from someone's body, this time there was a screeching as Dean drove the holy water coated, metal rod through the body. The rest was pretty 'normal' and then body fell to the floor as the black swirl and cloud rose out of it.

Eli was half hiding behind Sam, her hands clenching at his waist a bit without realizing it, but she watched over his shoulder as Jim fell and what had been inside him came out like a funnel of black. She somehow knew he would be dead even if Dean hadn't stabbed him, that thing had been inside him for so long.. at least since her mother had died, probably before that.

Dean felt the flood of evil start to leave the body and let go of the metal, pushing the body forward to the floor and resealing his flask to save what drops he had left of the liquid. They would need more before this night was over. "Great, we get a brief intermission before the dancing girls show up. You know what else we still need to get here, Sam?" He was breathing heavy now that he could breathe at all. He glanced at Eli who seemed okay despite being beyond terrified, content to hover in Sam's shadow. "Any other relatives you know of that'll crash our little party here?"

Sam exhaled slowly, feeling drained himself as he reached back to console Eli and make sure she was alright. "Hey..." He would ask if she was okay, but he knew that answer, and asking her how she felt? Bad idea. His arm curled around her shoulder, giving her any support she needed at the moment. He looked at Dean and the bag that was slopped on the stairs. "Yeah, we need to find anything that's going to help us against dear old dad. I'm not so sure the talismans are worth much, but right now they're all we have unless there's something still here that'll tell us what his weakness might be."

Eli felt Sam wrap his arm around her shoulders and she in turn leaned into his, resting her head there and closing her eyes for a moment. She didn't know what it was about him that made her feel so safe, it wasn't the same with Dean, he made her feel safe but not like Sam.. Her thoughts wandered a moment until she actually heard and absorbed some of what the boys were saying. "The attic." She blinked, lifting her head and looking toward Dean first, then up at Sam. "Like he kept wanting to go.. but that''s not it!" She shook her head and smiled, almost excited. "In here." She motioned toward the room they'd just been in. "If it's still there.. I think it's like.. their bible or whatever you'd call it for.. them..? An old book on a stand, with the tree on the front. It was always in there when I was a kid.. I was never allowed to read it.."

Sam gave his brother an acknowledging glance. It was plausible and likely. "Let's take a look," he said, not letting his guard too far down. Something was telling him not to. "Get our stuff first."

"Yeah. Wouldn't want the lead diva of this show stealing your tiara," Dean quipped strangely, going after his own gear. He kicked the body over and searched for anything useful Jim might have had to help them out more, like keys, or a matchbook with numbers, or maybe a little black demon book of demonic hook-ups in town that might be paying them a visit.

Eli glanced between the two, not sure what the comments from Dean really meant and did he mean her? She bit her lip and nodded, still eyeing them and realizing after the night she was having, it was probably normal to feel a bit paranoid. "Okay.. " They knew what they were doing, at least they seemed to and she hoped they really did. Eli took a step back from Sam, turning to lead them back into the room, which she really looked around at now that she wasn't being thrown into it. She wasn't trained like the brothers but the room looked different than it normally did.. it was in the process of being set up for the ritual she'd been meant to be the guest of honor in. There were also some remnants of the girls who had been taken before her. She bit at her lip as she lifted a strange looking knife from a tray next to the big table that was in the center of the room. "There.." She said softly, turning the knife in her hand as she spotted the stand and the book in the corner of the room.

"Hoooo that can't be good," Dean sighed, looking at the table and ceremonial krisknife she'd picked up. Looking around the rest of the room now, he felt doubly sure it couldn't be good. There was every indication that the table had been used recently, and likely the knife as well. He picked up a few of the souvenirs left by the others. He didn't need to ask where they'd come from. He was more worried about where the other's had gone or been dumped. If they were sacrificed within the room, they weren't dragged out, maybe carried out, but the floor was mostly clean.

Sam went directly to the stand and inspected it, looking for any part of it that might try to fight or alarm something else that would. The book sat open and he glanced over the page without touching it, his face knotting up with concern. "Dean, check this out. This picture," he said, scanning the wood-cut stamped image in the old text. The face on the main figure was very reminiscent of the man seen in the photos. The spirit-like image eminating from the prostrated figure, the sacrificial body, was familiar as well.

"Those girls that were with me.. they're all dead, aren't they?" She asked softly but the look on her face said she knew the answer was yes. Not only were they dead but probably in pieces by the look of what was in the room. Eli started toward where Sam stood with the book when he called Dean over, she was more than curious.. she'd never been allowed to read it yet it probably held the answers to her whole life and why it had been the way it had. "What did you find in there?" She asked, as she approached them.

[tripp]

January 17 2010
8:30 p.m.

It was a rare time that Sam was driving and Dean was awake, not giving him crap about it. He was too busily distracted by the lack of messages and information to go on. "I don't get it. Not even a Christmas card, Sam. She hates me. Well, right now I'm not even sure I like her," he pouted, flipping the phone closed only to open it one more time a minute later. Nothing.

The chuckle was hard to miss but his brother wasn't entirely unsympathetic. "Dean, you've checked your messages, what, nine times in the last half hour? What's the panic? She'll call, alright? Look, we've got this lead in Hannibal. I'm sure she can find the city and we can find her. Just relax. Get some sleep." He turned on the radio, tuning in a week Dave Matthews that rippled more into a solid frequency as they drove on.

"That's not funny," Dean grumped, flipping the tape in, instead. "You know I can't sleep to that crap. What's this job anyway?"

"I don't know yet, but it's a case, Dean, trust me."

"Trust you? What, college boy can't tell me in twenty-five words or less what kind of slimy, snarly, black-eyed freak we're after this time? How bad can this job turn out, huh? C'mon, Sam... Tell me a story here. Tell me something," he sighed, leaning back and rubbing his face down with his palm before looking at the phone again. "Maybe there's no service out here," he said, though he stared at the bars on the display that said otherwise.

"Get some sleep, Dean. You're going to need it. She'll meet us, okay?"

"Sure she will. I'm still waiting for that story about what we're after on this job. You've hardly said a word since we got out of Mississippi," Dean grumbled further as he settled back in his seat to try sleeping now that BTO was playing in place of the rasping radio station.

"Alright, fine. A couple of murders, nothing unusual. Put those murders in a town that hardly has a jaywalking incident in the past ten years and suddenly, it's unusual. Add the specifics that there's no particular pattern that the local sheriff's goons can ascertain and there's now a lunatic serial killer and the town's running scared."

"Serial killers are kinda a dime a dozen these days, aren't they? Kids in class, shopping malls, how about that freeway bandit in Washington last year, huh? What makes this our case?" Dean had heard it and lived half of it, looking for the real meat of a case, but so far he wasn't hearing it and the boredom was going to make him cry before it put him to sleep.

Sam looked over with a strange smile, almost eager about the job. "Unless those bandits are taking vital organs and leaving very little behind to go on?"

"Like werewolves?" He was suddenly interested.

"Like something that takes vital organs... and leaves very little behind to go on. I didn't want to get your hopes up about werewolves, which frankly is disturbing that they do, but you need the sleep. You haven't slept since Christmas. So, take a nap and we'll get to town in a couple hours. Just a stop by the quick copy and we pay the local doc a visit."

"Man after my own heart, Sammy. I .. don't mean.. literally. Drive. Wake me when we get there."

**********************************

It was two a.m. when they pulled into Hannibal, finding them at late check in and a shower away from getting to business. The town in question was a few minutes away. Sam worked on details while Dean conceded to sleep a few more hours, waking to coffee for the road and a scratchy suit for the part waiting for them at the clinic in Monkey Run.

A flash of their state coroner's IDs allowed them a chance to see the files at least. The bodies were already shipped into St Louis, they were told. "Temps. Can't process a simple message. The bodies were supposed to stay put for us to come to them. We'll just look at the records, if that's okay?" It must have been since the desk clerk responded to the flash of Dean's smile and let them in the file room.

"Hey, here's something," Dean yelped out several minutes later, though his eyes were suddenly stuck on a particular roster that had his eyes scanning and rescanning. "Why do I know that name? You got the journal? Look this up... this one right here," he pointed out to Sam the name that caught his attention while he pulled the file from the stack of recent patients, looking for more information in the history. He flipped the pages more and seemed confused. He pulled the next two files after it and found the same information. "Son of a.. Nevermind, it's not in there," he said, looking pale and sitting against the edge of the desk, handing the one file to Sam. "It's Del."

"What's... the file? She was here? There weren't any messages at the motel, Dean. If she was here, she was supposed to let us know," Sam said, concerned, and not sure he wanted to read the file, considering the look on Dean's face.

"It's her, alright?" Dean was suddenly stern and cold and appeared to be breaking an anxious sweat. "She's... "

Del had arrived in town a couple days before the boys had rolled in, she'd been to the clinic under the guise of patient and figured that Dean and Sam could handle being the suits on this case. She had intended to call them after seeing the doctor or at least leave them a message at the motel.. neither of those things happened.

It wasn't hard to pretend she thought she had the flu, when she hadn't been feeling quite like her usual self and had some symptoms that could be thought to be flu like. Del never got sick, so she figured that it was nothing more than being tired and working too much.. hah. She'd made the doctor do the test four times after the first was met with her total disbelief.

She'd paid her bill, left and wandered around in 'total shock' for hours.. she didn't think it wasn't possible, apparantly it was possible and happening right now. Del then checked out of the hotel she'd been staying at, intending to leave town, drop the case.. run away? She hadn't gotten far, she just wasn't in any state of mind to drive and ended up getting another room not far down the road.

That's where she was when the boys arrived into town and while they were investigating at the clinic she was pacing the floor of the sparse hotel room. She'd dozed on and off, feeling exhausted and anxious and in many ways totally lost.

"You're not joking are you?" Sam's attempt to keep from laughing turned the grin sideways. "Dean, didn't it occur to you that maybe you should try to... you know... maybe plan a little better?"

"We did, Sam, and I know. This isn't Mrs McCurdy's first grade class now. I get the birds and bees thing, but I'm not talking about that. Read the file. Notice anything strange?" Dean was hoping he wasn't reading more into what wasn't there.

"BP, pulse rate, temperature all seem pretty normal. Family history's lacking a little. Huh," he frowned and shrugged, handing the file back to Dean with a grin. "Guess you're going to have a chance to add to it, though. Congratulations?"

"For what? She's not talking to me, remember? Guess we know why. C'mon. We got some calls to make. The rest of what we need's in the other files. We need to track down Bobby. Hopefully he's not all hormonal and weepy and feeling sorry for himself over pickles and ice cream."

Sam watched his brother move out of the office at his determined pace, files under his arm and explanations ready for the clerk at the front desk. Looking down at the pile, Del's file was left behind. Curious, he picked it up, only to find the contents missing. "At least that's normal," he muttered, slipping the empty folder back in the stack and following Dean out to complete their research.

An hour of staring at the names and notes and times and ghastly photos, Dean was looking more green and finally put the papers away, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. "You better tell me you got something. I got bubkes from this. Not werewolves, we ruled that out. Not vampires, no teeth marks and the time of day's all wrong. We haven't ruled out witchcraft. So... what, your run of the mill, average serial killing demon? Or, just a run of the mill average serial killer? I don't think we got a thing on this to pin a demon MO on, Sammy."

"Maybe not, but there's something," Sam replied, glancing up over the blue glow as if he had to say he had a feeling about it, but Dean and his feelings usually didn't agree.

"Great. You and your 'something' duke it out and find something else we can use. I'm going for some beer so I can think," Dean said, hefting his unruly stack of shuffled files on top of Sam's beside the laptop.

Sam nodded and continued scrolling, not even looking up now. "Tell her hi from Uncle Sam," he said as straight as he could, cracking a smile as Dean closed the door.

Ten minutes, fifteen... half an hour.. He wasn't sure how long he sat in the parking lot with the bag with the beer sweating through the paper while he stared at his phone. He finally tried one more time. Afternoon, coming up on dinnertime, his was waiting to be sucked down and he thought maybe if she'd stayed in town, they could talk over it before it got too warmed up. The first step was hoping she'd even answer. He leaned with a wrist over the steering wheel, listening to her call tone.

Del had tried to focus on something else, she didn't have the case files but was still searching the net and through a few books she had to see if she could find something.. Before she knew it her screen displayed a totally different sort of research and her fingers were thumbing to a very small section in one book on demons and pregnacies.

She jumped and even let out a small yelp when her phone started to ring, she swore out loud in frustration at being jumpy at all and picked up the phone to look at the display. It was Dean.. how could she face him, how could she talk to him, knowing what she knew and he didn't? The book was set down on the table still open as she paced a few times, letting the phone ring until she finally answered it. "Hello." Her greeting lacked it's usual pep and excitement as if she felt it was already over before she'd even told him anything.

"Hey," he said flatly, not angry, not excited, not entirely sure she wasn't just going to hang up again. His hand tapped the dashboard as he adjusted the phone and kept watch out the windows. "So. We got the files. Thanks for the help. On the IDs I mean."

"Oh.. you did. That's great." She spoke after a moment of silence and continued to pace the length of her motel room. "Hey.. you're welcome. Glad to help.. so.. did you find anything? You know leads or.." There was a knock on her door and she moved to answer it, smelling the take out food she'd ordered a ton of.

The boy who delivered greeted her with a smile, assuming she had company with the amount of food that had been ordered. "Tony's Pizza miss.. got a pretty big order here for you.." He chuckled and gestured behind him to his car as he handed her one stack of bags and containers and went to get another. "That's fifty six, fourty seven... Oh.. thank you!" He grinned as she shoved the money into his hand and he saw his tip, though she just nodded and closed the door.

"Sorry.. I ordered some dinner.. " She explained the interuption though Dean likely heard most of it, including the name of the place she'd ordered from, which happened to be next to the store he'd gotten his beer from.

"Yeah we found out a few things," he started, getting interrupted by the sounds where she was at. "Great. Pizza, that's great. So why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know I had to tell you when I ordered food.." She spoke slowly, confused as to what he seemed annoyed about. She wasn't thinking that he knew her 'little' secret yet.

"Not talking about pizza and you know it. Although I guess you forgot to ask for no anchovies, huh? I understand a little better now than I did this morning, but that still doesn't answer my really burning question right now. Where are you?"

"I didn't get anchovies." She spoke softly, an obvious pout in her voice as she sank down into the chair, nearly missing it and having to catch herself. "You.. saw my file." Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath. If he had been angry enough to hunt her down to harm her, he wouldn't have called. She reasoned with herself for a moment, trying not to be afraid of.. everything. "The Oasis Motel.. room 29.. at the far end of the lot. First floor."

"You're in Monkey Run?" Now he was getting upset and his voice was at a rougher pitch. "What part of serial killer don't you get? And you ordered food. Enough for a an army, but still.."

"Yeah I'm.. what? Where do you expect me to be? I came here for a job.. I'm just supposed to tuck tail and run cause I don't have the flu like I thought?" She sort of snapped back at him for scolding her and looked at the mountain of food on the small table. "Yes I ordered food.. I was hungry. It's not like I haven't faced a serial killer before."

"But you weren't...," he stopped and the words fell silently into the hand that wiped over his mouth. He had no way to know if she'd ever been before, but the way she was reacting now, he was thinking it was a safe bet this was a first.. for both of them. "Before doesn't matter, okay? I'm heading out there. It's what, twenty minutes?"

"You're right, I wasn't.. but this doesn't change what I am.. " She realized with a sigh that it wasn't something they should be getting into over the phone anyway. "Yeah.. twenty minutes, if that.. the food will probably still be hot when you get here."

"Don't answer your door for anybody else but me, alright?" He was angry enough that she'd opened it for the delivery kid.

She was about to snap back at him and tell him to quit being stupid when she realized that he wasn't, he was worrying about her. Okay.. that was a little, well alot weird for her. It was one thing to watch each other's back and have concern for safety on a case but this was something more than that.. Delaney wasn't sure what to do with it. "Alright.. I'll just sit tight until you get here."

[tripp]

"Damn well better," he grumbled, hoping she wouldn't take off and leave him wondering what would happen to the future of ... whatever future this meant. Sam would call if he found out anything else. "You got sausage on that pizza?" Now that he thought about it, food was probably a good plan.

She bit her tongue at the retort that started to roll off, she just sighed heavily and figured she might have to knock him on his ass at some point if he went too far with this macho bravada, bossing her around thing. For the moment she let it slide and glanced at the pizza box, wondering if she could eat an entire pizza before he got there. "Of course I do.. on at least two of them."

"Great. Could you save a slice for Sam. I kinda .. left him behind with his best little electric friend in the room," he said, worrying that Sam hadn't eaten in about as long and here he was heading out sight-unseen.

"Depends on how long I have to save it for." She chuckled softly, looking over the amount of food she'd ordered, apparently her cravings were bigger than her stomach. She was hungry but had certainly over ordered, just everything sounded so good when looking over the take out menu and being hungry at the time "Seriously, I can.. there is enough to share."

The engine drowned them out for a moment then settled to the familiar purr. "Long enough for me to forget I tried to save him some and eat it myself. As long as we're being serious, what else have you found out?"

She glanced at her research and shrugged, though he couldn't see it. "I almost left after I found out.. that I didn't have the flu. You got the case files, I only have what little I gathered from the gossips in the waiting room of the clinic.. it's not much to go on."

"You never know. Gossip can tank companies. Bet it can tank the best laid plans of a monster on the loose... if they're not one and the same," he said, hoping she'd keep talking until he got close enough to ensure she wasn't packing up and heading off.

"Hmm true.." She pondered that a moment as she reached to pull an onion ring out of the box. "..but I don't have the files to look at and check out what might connect each of the victims. What did you come across in them?"

If he admitted that he couldn't remember because he'd been too distracted by other things...? "We'll talk about it more when I'm there. It's not what they think it is, but I'm not sure it's what Sam thinks it is, either."

"Sounds fair enough.. so Sam has a theory then?" She asked between bites, now that she was starting to pick at the food, the smell of it was too much to resist anymore. She sighed again, realizing she had been totally distracted herself and hardly knew up from down, nevermind the details she needed to focus on for the case.

"Doesn't he always? Hey, who'd you say you ordered that stuff from?" He drove by a pizzeria called Tony's that looked closed for the afternoon, or at the very least slow and unpopular.

"Oh.. a place called Tony's.. Trust me, there is plenty here. You don't need to get anymore. That feeding an army comment.. it might be true." She chuckled and he might hear as she pulled open one of the pizza boxes. "It's good.." She paused to stifle a yawn.

[tripp]

He glanced back at the place as he drove on, seeing a bit of the back lot in the mirror and not too many cars there, either. "Huh. Yeah, sound like it. Busy town like this, I guess probably everybody's home in front the news right now. Del, hey, there was something... in the files. The victims were all missing parts."

She suddenly felt.. dizzy, she nodded her head to what Dean had said, not thinking at first that he couldn't see her. A moment later with her hand on her forehead and her fries set aside she spoke. "Yeah.. um.. what.. what parts were missing?" Del blinked and rubbed at her eyes, looking at her food and swearing under her breath as she leaned to look out the window, feeling the room sway a bit more with that movement. "How far away are you?" The delivery guy's car was still outside, though parked down several spaces as not to be noticed if she glanced out as a normal person would. They would have likely missed it, but she didn't, she closed the curtain and her foot tapped the waste bucket closer.

"At the speed limit so I don't make anyone suspicious? About two minutes. So you really do want to see me, huh?" He looked around the intersection while he was stopped at the light by himself.

"Two minutes.. that's a long time.." She dropped down on the floor on her knees, figuring that her glance out the window had been seen and would buy her a few minutes. The guy would have to think she was waiting for someone and that she wasn't passed out yet since she'd looked out.. right, that made sense. "Yeah.. Dean, I really do want to see you... hold on, okay?" She set the phone down and shoved her fingers into the back of her throat to make herself throw up into the waste basket.

He held the phone away, his face contorting as he tried to settle his own reaction. "Alright, maybe you really don't want to see me, but it's important Delaney. We need to talk about this... all of this. I guess I shouldn't have mentioned the trophy body parts while you're eating either. I'm about a block out."

"You didn't make me sick." She told him as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Keep your eye out for a dark green sedan parked about five spaces up from my car.. and don't eat the fries when you get here."

"Fries from a pizza joint? What kinda place is that, anyway? Dark gree.... yeah, I see it. Don't see anyone in it," he said, looking around the lot as he pulled into the space beside the sedan, tight enough to keep the driver's door from opening.

"Yeah.. fries.. I got onion rings too." She was on her feet and swishing mouthwash, while keeping her gun in one hand in case anything decided to crash in. "Guy was about 5'8".. a navy blue polo shirt, brown jacket, jeans.. black hair, kind of shaggy cut under a ball cap.." She described the delivery guy as she moved closer to the motel room door.

"Got it," he said, climbing out and disconnecting the call to free his hands. Being in town in daylight sucked in so many ways he couldn't see straight right now, keeping his gun in his belt for the moment until he was in shadows, since generally the Coroners' office didn't really need them in their line of work. There were not a lot of place the driver could hide but he checked every place he could without drawing the attention of other guests, or the maintenance man in his greasy shirt heading to the door marked 'boiler' with a bucket of tools.

"Okay baby.. I'll see you in a minute.." She spoke even though Dean disconnected the call. Del saw the shadow move across the back windows and she sighed, it figures, she thought to herself and backed toward the door. She leaned, listening for Dean and hoping he was close. "Dean." She whispered his name closing her eyes as if somehow he might feel her need for him to be there.

[tripp]

The door bounced against its lock and hinge twice, then sat silent. The low grumble of angry mist filtered beneath her door, forming a shape on her side.

"Hey! You uh... you seen that delivery guy from Tony's out here? He forgot his tip," Dean hollered after the other man that fit none of the description Del gave him... although it might if the man had any hair other than the sprawl on his lip.

"Tony's?" The guy chuckled back as if he could have known a Tony or two in his time. "You mean the pizza place up the road? You're a little late paying up. Place is closed. Has been since the fire last month," the man said, dismissing Dean with a chuckle and glance that the boy'd lost his mind.

Dean turned back toward the rooms. Del...

Del jumped a little as something slammed at her door and she spun to face it as the mist filtered in. "Shit." She whispered, raising the gun toward the shape that formed inside the room. "Look buddy I didn't cheap out on your tip.. it was a good one."

The form of the driver solidified inside the room. "Yeah. Maybe I should give you one. That little toy's not gonna work." His head tilted. "Why are you standing up?"

Dean glanced over the numbers again and jogged back down the line to find her room again. The dull thump hadn't gone unnoticed.

"If you really need a pizza that bad, man, call Meretti's on Fifth street!" The man watched him run off then, shaking his head, went about his own business.

"Del?? Delaney!!?" He yelled out at the door as he halted in front of it. Breaking in or busting in, either way, he was going to get noticed.

"Well it makes me feel better, like a real tough guy." Del quipped back, surprisingly throwing up made her feel alot better, add in her hyped up metabolism and well she was nearly good as new. "How do you feel about mouthwash?" It was all she had handy and the bottle flew at the 'guy' as she heard Dean outside the door. "I've got company in here!" She called back and the lock let go with a quiet click, allowing Dean to burst in more quietly but revealing something else about herself. Unfortunately she couldn't afford to play 'normal' at the moment.

The bottle was grabbed from the air. "Hmm. Minty fresh. How do you feel about playing with fire?" The driver's eyes darkened to black and a burst of flame flowed around the outside of the bottle of volatile liquid, igniting only his hand at the moment.

Dean was about to shoulder the door open but it popped loose in his grip, falling open under his weight and sending him sprawling inward and crashing into the driver. He huddled back quickly against the flames and any fists, ready to move. "GO! Get out!" He yelled out, partly to Del to run to safety.

[tripp]

"Fire.. that's cute." That totally sucked! Dean burst in and yelled for her to get out, her eyes darted to the table, she needed the books and research. Thankfully everything was packed up, all she had to do was get a hand on the strap on her way out. She didn't intend to leave Dean behind though her legs shifted into motion and she ran for the door, reaching out to grab her book and bag as she went by. "Come on." Her gaze went to Dean as she felt the strap and her fingers closed around it.

Dean kicked a leg out to topple the driver over to the ground and pulled the blanket off the bed to suffocate the flames for the moment. He had no intention of letting the place go up, not knowing how many people were staying there. The price tag for the damage wasn't something he wanted right now, either.

Under the blanket the form dissipated and flowed out in oily smoke, this time slithering its way into the baseboard grill and down into the crawl space under the rooms. The partly melted bottle of mouthwash burst under Dean's weight, splashing through the fabric and over him in a pale green geyser.

Del stopped in the doorway, watching the mouthwash shower over Dean and sighing half in annoyance and half in relief that it wasn't something worse. "Minty fresh." She murmured the words the demon had used and she stepped toward Dean to help him and watched around them since the thing had gone all smokey and vanished into the baseboard. "You ok?" She asked as she shifted the strap of her bag up onto her shoulder.

He flung the drops off his fingers as he stood up, trying to minimize what was on himself and using the half-saturated blanket to mop himself off. He was annoyed, but he'd live. "Yeah, fine, if you like Schnapps. We gotta get out of here and get Sam," he said, looking forlorn at the spread of almost-food they had to leave behind. He almost looked like he might shed a tear for the pizza. "Oh man."

"Could be worse." She countered, stiffening a little at his annoyance over being showered with mouthwash when that thing could have killed her. "Oh man what?" She asked as she turned from watching his expressions to follow his gaze. Del almost laughed as she realized he was pouting over the food, she shook her head with a slight roll of her eyes and patted his arm. "Ohh that.. I'm sure we can find some untainted food somewhere in this town.. we'll get more. Right now we have work to do. Let's go." She gave him a small tug and turned back for the door and their cars.

"Yeah, well Flame-on back there took your cash.. something we're a little short on, remember?" He almost reached for a fry, but remembered her warning. He took another look around the room and grabbed the do-not-disturb hanger to put on the door. "One thing's for sure. He won't be gone long. Just don't know where he'll turn up next."

"Do you really think I gave him all my money? Am I wearing a sign that says dumb chick?" It was her turn to be annoyed, it didn't help that she was starving and had to make herself throw up everything she'd eaten. "Believe me.. there will be food. I need food.. you want me to have food." She sort of warned him of the importance of feeding her. She'd already said let's go and was heading toward the door, so she figured he could catch up - the room wasn't that big. Delaney paused at the door, glancing out before she stepped out and started toward her car.

"Am I wearing a sign that says 'kick me'? C'mon Del, I just meant... nevermind. I want to get out of this doublemint suit." He followed behind her, keeping an eye out for the driver and any of its friends. He grabbed a shirt out of the pack in the back seat to switch out of the one he had on.

"Meant what? I'm not capable of taking care of myself?" She snapped back, letting out a sigh as she shook her head more pissed that he might be right in a small way than anything. She was the one who ordered the stupid food and ate it and nearly ended up unconscious from it. "Damn it." She tossed her bag on the seat of her car and glared over at him. "So.. " She didn't know what to say and just kind of shook her head and got in the car, she had the keys in the ignition before the door slammed closed beside her.

[tripp]

He'd hardly had the clean shirt on when the her door slammed and he was over knocking on her window. "Where are you going? We gotta get Sam," he said almost yelling, though it was likely muffled through the glass.

She looked up at him and rolled the window down so he wasn't muffled by the glass. "I'll follow you." She brought her gaze up to his and looking in his eyes the whole pissy tough attitude melted away and she sat back against the seat. "You weren't planning on going seperately.. were you?"

"Not so much. Not after that," he said, trying not to upset her more. The reality of everything was starting to overwhelm him and his thoughts were beginning to muddle.

"Right.. of course. I guess we're taking your car?" She sighed again and her hand started to lift toward his face but she stopped it before it got above the window line. "Let's go then.. " She reached over to grab her bag again and used her other hand to roll up the window after she opened the door a little.

Whether she followed him or not, he would be fine as long as she didn't stay here. He nodded, though, and stepped back from her door, keeping an eye on the room door and the curtain, taking another sweeping glance around the lot. He happened by the other sedan first, since no one seemed to be watching too closely and tried the door, finding it unlocked. Maybe there was something they could use like.. "Come to papa," he grinned, reaching down to the floorboard for the zippered cashbag.

She had her bag and locked up her car though it wouldn't stop someone who really wanted to get in. Like the boys she did have certain wards in place but there was really only so much one could do to protect a car and it's contents. Her own gaze skirted around the lot and from the looks of things their flamey friend had vacated the area.. for the moment, she knew Dean had a point about it not being gone long and of where it might show up next. She was thinking on that and why it had targeted her as she came around toward Dean's car. His mood seemed to have improved some and she went to set her bag on the seat. He's parked close to the other car and so they would both have to get in on the driver's side of the impala.

Dean shrugged at the fact that they needed to climb into the car on the same side. "I could back out first. Check this out, though. Tip, charge, gas money, and real dinner, if I guess right. Just gotta get a knife I don't care too much about or take a minute on the lock." He tossed the cash bag in before getting in himself behind her.

"Great, I'm starving.. let's go!" She even managed one of her usual smiles for him as she laughed a little and sort of yanked him the rest of the way into the car, though he was already there himself. "At least you're not a boring date." She teased him, the relief that neither of them had been hurt washed through her and the tug was to bring him to her kiss. As she distracted him a little, his keys rose up and slid into the ignition for him, making up for the time she kept him occupied.

She hadn't slugged him yet, but as she tugged now, he thought she might have decided to then just take the cash and run to the next town or further away. The kiss startled him enough that he fliched again. It felt electrified and less than angry. "This is a date?" He grinned, half out of breath by the time the kiss diminished enough that he wanted to say anything. They needed to leave and he couldn't find his keys now. He started to get nervous then immediately calmed with a confused chuckle. "They're in... heh... I guess I... yeah, forgot I already... um, let's get out of here."

The kiss nearly made up for how miserable she'd been since her visit to the clinic and the worry about how he'd react to the news. She might need a few more kisses for it to totally be better but things were much improved. "Mmmhmm.. it's a date.." She went along with his confusion and let him think he'd forgotten that he'd put the keys in the ignition.. maybe it was easier for her that way. Del chuckled softly and nodded her head, she was so ready to get out of there for awhile.. and so very hungry.

[tripp]

"Passed about a dozen drive-thrus and a quick mart, just tell me what sounds good," he said, reaching over the seat to see out the back and pull out to return to civilization again.

Near the boiler room door, the balding man reappeared, pitch-colored eyes watching the impala leave the lot.

Del shivered as an odd chill ran through her, she was less frazzled about the situation she was dealing with and therefore her senses less clouded than they had been. "Sticking together.. doesn't matter where we stop.. just as long as we don't split up.." Her head turned to look back at the motel, scanning along as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Woman's making some sense," he crowed gently, nodding that he'd achieved some small victory in an ever increasing battle. He reached for the radio then changed his mind, tapping the tape back in. The movement got his attention. "What, still not feeling good?"

"I'm actually feeling much better." She watched him with a strange smile, she'd expected him to be angry.. to tell her to get lost or something.. not this.. trying to keep her closer. She liked it but she just didn't know what to make of it. "You.. don't get that do you? The.. feelings when.. their nearby?"

"They? Demons? Yeah, I get pissed as hell and want to kill things... you mean that feeling?" That turned his tone a little and he turned up the volume a little.

"Yes, demons." Her head shook but she doubted that he was listening when she spoke again. "No, not that feeling." She didn't bother trying to be heard over the music and turned her gaze to the window, looking out at what they drove past and tuning into herself a little more to try and sense if it had followed or if there was more than one.

They drove in silence for a few minutes, each of them with their own thoughts churning and the music turned up keeping any words to each other at bay. Del kept trying to tell him everything but she couldn't get a single word about it to come out of her mouth, she was sure if he knew the truth.. all of it, that he'd turn away.. or do what he mentioned a few minutes before about killing things. She reached over and turned the radio down, pointing to a mini mart place that they were coming up on. "Stop here."

Again she startled him and he chided himself at the flinch. He was never jumpy like this. Dean sighed, his jaw clenched briefly at himself. "I'm not going in. Get whatever, but... I can't."

"So much for sticking together.." She muttered, rolled her eyes, and didn't dare to look at him. She was somewhere between angry and hurt and it was a thin line between the two in this case.. Dean had Sam, he had someone to count on, to look out for, to turn to, but Del was completely alone and she had no one to talk to when she was confused.

"I'm not going in smelling like toothpaste, alright? It's just... a pride thing," he explained, falling into a mutter and a flat argument. She was right and what did it matter? This wasn't his town and if the neighbors talked, they weren't his neighbors - they never were.

She laughed a little but it wasn't very amused. "That's the most ridiculous excuse I've ever heard. Do whatever you want, Dean. Just stop the car so I can get out. I'm hungry." She hooked her bag up over her shoulder, setting the strap across her chest, it would be a risk to walk back to her car but what choice did she have? One minute he seemed to be inviting her into his life and the next he was standing in the way so she couldn't come in. This is probably why most hunters - if they lived that long- ended up grumpy, burly, old men who were alone.

[tripp]

"I am doing what I want... right after I stop the car and come with you. I changed my mind. Don't think you really cornered the market on that one. Guys change their mind all the time too, you know." He was almost pouting, but the hunger from smelling the food and the all-encompassing smell from the mouthwash was permeating his senses into more confusion that a sandwich would fix. He parked in the small lot and waited a moment, expecting she was going to just fly out the door.

"Apparently they do, huh?" Her gaze finally swung his way and she did her best to hide any signs that his temperment had hurt her feelings. She was confused enough without his help.. but of course given a moment to think about it rationally, how could she blame him for being as conflicted as she was? "I think I'm still confused about what it is you want.. besides food." That was one thing she'd learned about him - Dean was like always hungry or eating something. Her hand was on the door but she paused to look over him, wondering what it was he seemed to be waiting on.

"I want to figure this out. The whole thing. It doesn't make sense. Not yet, anyway. The victims," he clarified, glancing back. That wasn't what she was talking about, was it? "I want a beer and a steady paycheck, but since I don't see half of that in my near future... guess that means I want a beer. And some time away from the rest of this to figure out the rest of what I want."

Her eyes closed briefly and she wanted the same things basically, though she didn't see any of it in her future other than the case. "Yeah. I hear that.. beer is that way." She nodded toward the mini mart and this time she opened the door of the car. "It's the best I can do at the moment." She spoke over her shoulder as she eased out of the Impala, she felt the heavy sigh flow out. There was alot she needed to figure out and in a short time and it was giving her a headache. She rubbed her temples as she headed into the store.

He didn't like that the demon had found her of all people and didn't trust this town enough to think that was the only one. Dean climbed out, still cautious, watching the other faces that came and went, although there were only one or two. He doubled back a second, as if to grab his keys, but only to slip the cash bag further under the seat out of view. "Nobody better even think about shanghai-ing my Iron Maiden tapes," he said out loud in case anyone was close, then followed Del in, turning his collar up to the chill that was only thanks to the shower he'd taken in listerine.

Del wasn't banking on the driver being the only demon in town, she figured with the number of victims alone that he at least had to have some kind of partner or minion or whatever. She went straight to the prepackaged ready to eat stuff, not trusting anything that someone might have prepared and could have put something in. Great now she was paranoid.. that was always fun. She sighed as she piled the boxes of snack cakes and bags of chips in one arm, her other hand picked up and either added or discarded items as she tried to figure out what would calm her and what would satisfy the hunger that made her stomach ache like her head.

Dean skirted around her, glancing down at the armload with a raised eyebrow and a held tongue. Apparently she was feeling better if that stuff looked decent. His attention wandered quickly around the shop.. strange glances from other customers, headlines facing the aisle from the half dozen papers, the slightly lingering glance at the magazines covered by sheets of rough-cut cardboard, letting his imagination work a little overtime on all of them as he headed to the cooler for sodas, milk and handful of canned coffees and beer. The face of the stock kid at the back of the cooler frowned as he emptied the row he'd just finished filling. "Sorry - doc tells me I need to pump more fluids," Dean smiled back from the door-side of the cooler, saluting the kid with a carton showing a happy cow.

The problem with being pregnant, hungry, upset, and angry all at once? You wanted to eat everything. Del paid attention to everyone else in her own manner, she wasn't like Dean but it didn't mean she wasn't observing just as well. She rounded by the door again, smiling a bit at the clerk as she set her items down and motioned that she'd be right back then went back down the aisle to fill her arms a second time. At least this sweep had her grabbing bread, cheese, mustard, and a package of each of the two options for lunch meat - which was bologna and ham. All the while she was thinking about how much she wanted pizza, and how pissed she was that she hadn't gotten it. With a final sigh, she headed back to the front again to find out how much of a small fortune this was going to cost her. In a way she was ignoring Dean, though not totally, just not really talking to him at the moment. Part of her was pissed off, part of her was confused, and part of her understood totally.. but all of her was hormonal and hungry.

[tripp]

"I got this," Dean said, setting down his load on the counter next to hers and flashing a smile along with the bit of plastic he glanced at quickly to remember which name was on it as he handed it to the clerk. "Soon as she's done. You know women and shopping," he said, trying to be charming though it only earned him a flip of the clerks toothpick from under one side of his thin-moustached lip to the other.

The clerk stared at him a long minute, taking the card without taking his eyes off Dean. "You gettin' gas with all this? You know there's a Kroger down the street. I don't order no more o this until next week. You're bleedin' me, here."

Del set her second load down and tried not to reach over the counter and choke the clerk... or Dean. "We didn't get that much. Could have gotten more.. just ring us up and we'll go. You've obviously never been hormonal." She sort of muttered and fidgitted , turning from the counter to face Dean and back, twisting a bit side to side.

"Yeah." The clerk dismissed most of whatever either of them said and rang up the load, then ran the card, looking surprised that it cleared without any alert. The items were bagged and he pushed the slip across the counter. "Sign here mister... McCartney..."

Dean looked at the man, then Del and back with a quick grin. "No relation. I get that a lot," he said, trying not to chuckle as he signed.

"Thank you.. so much." Del smiled politely and leaned closer to Dean as if they were just any normal couple who had stopped for alot of food in a quick mart. She didn't try to over do the happy since they weren't, but they didn't need to act like anything other than a minor tiff had happened between them. It was more for anyone who might be watching than trying to butter up Dean. "Oooh I'll just take those." She snagged the back of Doritoes with a little grin and opened them to start munching. As she did that, she took a moment to let her gaze sweep over the store again, as if just curious or bored and waiting to go.. do better things.

"Yeah, you do that," Dean snipped, letting her toddle off with the chips before they were clear and on the road again. He sent the scribbled slip back across and grabbed the other bags. "Thanks. Hey uh... so we were in town a while back and tried that place... what was it called hon? Tony's? I think that was is it. Looked closed. What happened to it?"

"Kitchen fire," the clerk said with as little enthusiasm as before. "Health department rolled out a report on 'em and locked the doors. Anything else you wanna know?" The clerk grumbled uncomfortably and shifted his belt of the ill-fitting jeans.

She'd only taken a few steps and her smile faded as would any girl's when her boyfriend snipped, though she forced another one out as he went right on to the next topic. They were actually pretty good at pretending to be a real couple, complete with looks and snips and sighs. "Yeah Tony's.. it was good.." She murmured and held the bag of chips, the clerk wasn't very friendly. "A fire.. wow.. that sucks." She nodded and gave Dean a look as if to say 'can we go now?' and she started to reach for the other bags on the counter. "I guess we really can't go there later."

[tripp]

"Guess not," Dean agreed, although if it had been closed a month or more, going later after dark might be an option, but they were bringing Sam back first. "I heard Meretti's was pretty good. Mack recommended it, remember?" He continued with the chatter as they took the bags out to the car.

"Sure, but if I get sick like the last place we tried.. I'm throwing up on your shoes." She warned and teased and kept the fake chatter going in case the clerk was actually listening. Her eyes swept the parking lot as they walked toward the car, she nearly expected fire guy to slither out from some shadow, though it wasn't likely he'd show himself in the open. Unless totally desperate demons tended not do displays like that, or if they had a good enough reason.. or.. okay it wasn't out of the question but she wanted to eat and talk herself out of the first idea. "So.. kitchen fire. huh?" She spoke to Dean once they were nearer to his car and further from the ears of the clerk.

Dean went to the trunk to stow his bags and help her with hers. He watched the door and the lot as well. "Yeah, well it just means the average Joe's heard the same story. The guy at the motel said the same thing. What doesn't make sense is that if that's our lead, who's answering the phone at the place, or... maybe we should ask -where- they're answering. The place is anything but boarded up from what I saw. Which also doesn't make sense. In a two street town, maybe they can trust their neighbors' kids and all, but a town this size and it's just sitting there?"

"Don't forget that they actually delivered my order to me.. so where did they make it? and assuming that this is a 'they' deal, it means there are at least two.. or flamey has some human minions.. forced, coerced or simply willing.. There is way too much we don't know right now. Like what I have in common with the other victims.. and how it knew it was me who called.. this is not helping my head ache." She let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. "The timing of all this.. just sucks. I should have made the delivery guy before I even opened the door."

"I don't think they knew until you weren't laying down waiting to be carved up," Dean considered, taking his phone out and dialing Sam as he grabbed a soda and closed the trunk. "Sure bet is they know now."

"Yeah great.. I feel better now, thanks." If he didn't catch the sarcasm in her voice he was deaf. Delaney almost growled her anger and frustration out and watched him close the trunk without letting her get a soda. He was pretty good at pretending to be a real guy too. She turned with a slight huff and went around to get in the car, crunching on the chips and reaching for her notes from her bag.

"If they didn't know I was one of the victims they wanted, then the victims must be random, otherwise why go through that trouble with the food and all? Just to find out I might be.. I find that a little hard to believe." She didn't even know if he was listening to her, but was used to thinking out loud aka talking to herself anyway.

"Might be what? Sam! Hey Sammie, I'm glad you're still there. Are you in the room? Great. See what you can get on this place called Tony's in Monkey Run. Anything about a fire or health codes. No, give me a little credit, here. I don't eat at just any greasy... yeah, alright, shut up. Look, we may be onto something with this place," Dean said, flipping the conversation to the one in his ear as Sam picked up and he handed the soda to Del so he could restart the car. "Yeah, check on that and anything on demon pyros that like pizza."

[tripp]

She took the soda and wondered if he did this stuff to Sam too, though if he was with Sam he wouldn't be calling him. She needed to stop thinking like a girl - right now! What the heck was wrong with her? Focus. Case, demons, hunting.. Maybe it would work, she hoped it would work. She couldn't spend, how many months? not being able to focus. Del got the soda open and took a drink of it, before holding it out for Dean, she had set the chips down so he was free to take some as she used her other hand to start flipping through her notes. "The fire happened how long ago?" She was looking at the date from what she believed was the first attack and victim, which was about 3 weeks before.

Dean turned down the soda, turning the phone a moment, "That's yours. Last month some time," he went back to Sam on the line just as fast. "We're on the way. Oh, and don't order in from anywhere. Just play it safe for now."

She looked at the soda in her hand and then at Dean, he was such a jerk! She smiled a little and curled her hand back toward herself, taking another sip of the soda. She was blaming it all on hormones, well maybe a little on paranoia, but she was blaming the parinoia on hormones! "The first victim was found three weeks ago, dead a couple days when found.. the timing is close with the fire.. maybe our guy's arrival? Tell Sam to look up whoever owned the pizza place.. where are they and why aren't they reopening? Anything in the past that might point to.. " She stopped and looked to Dean, he did know what he was doing and she didn't need to spell out every little thing for him.

Dean turned slowly as she rattled off the game plan, his jaw tense and his eyes rolling a little as he spat back into the phone. "What, you two think I need it in stereo, now? Alright, alright... I got it...owners, remodel, you're on it. Great work, just... find something." He clicked the phone closed and his head thumped back against the seat as he slipped it in a pocket. "Sometimes I don't know which is worse."

"Which what is worse than what other?" She asked as she closed her notes and started shoving them back in her bag, hoping the food would improve her mood very quickly. Del was staring out the window but not really seeing what they passed, at least not on the surface. She absorbed it but just wasn't processing it at the moment.

"Wondering if he reads minds or if you do. That was seriously one of the freakiest things I think I've heard in a while that didn't choke on black smoke afterward," Dean said, visibly chilled by that episode. "Didn't think anybody was on Sammie's Dick Tracy decoder frequency."

"Oh.. " She sort of nodded her head, letting out a slight sigh. "I wasn't reading his mind. I'm just used to doing this all on my own. I usually have to be both you and Sam on my team."

"Don't be me. Be anybody but me," he lamented a moment, but clicked the smile back on. "Besides... I'm the original and I gotta be me," he smiled, though it faded a little. How could he get her to not be upset? They needed to talk... maybe she neeed to be upset or they never would? "You don't have do it on your own anymore, Del."

"But I like you.." She murmured softly, laughing a little though the sadness and confusion didn't quite leave her expression. "The brother hunter duo.. you really think it can be a trio?.. Dean.. you don't know.. I can't just.. " She felt her eyes sting with tears and swore under breath. "I haven't cried in ten years.." It was obvious her thoughts had ventured away from the case and to her personal issues. "I've been on my own for so long.. I don't really know anything else.. I have to do it on my own.. there isn't any other way."

[tripp]

Tears weren't something he really knew how to deal with. Any he'd ever had were usually scared out of him or were too deeply welled to be useful. Why did his throat hurt as he listened to the strain in her voice? "There's always another way. Usually it's my way unless Sam gets some bull headed plan that manages to w... that's not what you mean. That's not what I mean. I mean.. you don't have to do it all on your own. Doesn't mean you have to make it a.. .. a trio or whatever, just that I mean... we're here for you. I'm here."

That was enough for her to wall the tears up and her jaw to tighten. "Right.. yeah.. sure, thanks for that." Her head shook a little and she wiped the few tears off her cheeks, steeling herself as she closed the soda tightly and set it on the seat. "I'll take care it.. I'll do what I have to do. Don't even give it another thought. You're perfect pair is safe. I'll give you my notes for the case and be out of your hair."

He slowed down, thinking of pulling off to the side of the road. No. Then she would get out. He sped up again and sped a little faster. "Finished? Done with the woe is me crap? I'll say it again, Delaney, you're not alone, alright? What aren't you telling me that you want to walk away from our help that bad, huh?"

"Walk away from what Dean? What am I going to do huh? Call you from California when I need diapers and I'm busy killing a demon, oh but wait you and Sam will be in New Jersey. Yeah.. I can see that working out really well." She shook her head and considered jumping out of the car despite how he sped up. "There is no woe is me crap. There is just me. It's my mistake.. I'll deal with it."

"What's that supposed to mean... that you'll deal with it?" His voice was soft but spirited and concerned. The green in his eyes seemed to be on fire from within as he glanced over then downshifted, taking an early exit to the business loop. The direct route might end their discussion too soon. "Why would you be in California if we're on the other coast? We've done okay so far, half a state away at most."

"I'm the one who let it happen.. I'm the one who has to live with it." She explained softly, though it might not have made things any more clear. "You're not inviting me to be a part of your family even though part of me will be.. if you can't let me all the way in, there is no way you could accept me.. accept us." She hadn't quite realized she'd been hoping he would, until it sounded like he wasn't.

"This isn't a damned birthday party, Del..," he started, then glanced over, downward over her and then away again. "Well, not yet, but that's not the point. Hunting doesn't get an invitation, it just is what it is. It's something we do like we've always done." He wasn't sure where he was going now with the comment or the driving and he fell silent a moment, the largest thought still weighing heavily on him enough he was afraid to say it out loud.

"I wasn't talking about hunting.. but thanks for making the point perfectly clear." She snapped back at him, folding her arms around herself in a defensive and protective manner, she ignored the food and the soda now. Del stared straight ahead, her jaw working slightly as she fought more tears and the urge to slap him.

"What point was I supposed to make? If you weren't talking about hunting with us, which I thought you were since you mentioned demons in California... whole damned state as far as I'm concerned, which might keep you too busy for... You didn't mean hunting at all, did you? You're talking family," he realized, the word falling away in his breath painfully as he recollected the night his own mom was killed, carrying his baby brother to safety from the world they lived in. He slowed to a traffic stop and brushed his hand over his face, not able to look at her though his jaw ground in circles just like hers.

"I wasn't talking about hunting." She 'agreed' after a long moment of silence, she still didn't look at him for fear she would totally lose it and the waterworks would flow unchecked. "Sure it's the family business and all .. but yeah I was talking about family... and now I'm not."

[tripp]

"I'm sorry," he said, forcing out a chuckle or he'd punch something and he wasn't about to hit her or the car. "I screwed it up, screwed everything up. Please don't tell me it's screwed up to think the kid needs a dad... even a screwed up one," he said, almost holding his breath as he turned at the corner and headed to the motel.

It seemed to echo in her head and her hands lifted to wipe at her cheeks and her eyes trying not to let herself cry even though some tears spilled out. "Damn it.. damn it! Why did you have to say that?" Of course he didn't know why it upset her as much as it did, he might have his thoughts but he wouldn't know the real reason. She turned her face toward the window as she somewhat got herself back under control. "Yeah.. the kid needs a dad.. even if it's a screwed up one." She wiped at her eyes again and leaned her forehead on her hand, her elbow propped up on the door of the car. "But the person has to want to be one.. you can't force it or pretend.. you have to want to be a dad."

"I can pretend a lot of things," he retorted under his breath, then bit it back. Did he want to or did he feel he had to? Of course he had to, he reasoned, hearing his dad's voice sternly and caringly coaxing him to make the right choices in life, although what was right or wrong in his life? He'd killed, stolen, lied... "Yeah, great role model... Look, just.. we'll talk. We'll get there and we'll talk and ... how are you feeling?"

"Nauseous." She replied with a slight pout on her face and leaned back into the seat a little more. "Tired... no.. exhausted.." She chuckled quietly, thinking of what a huge mess she'd made of everything. "Role model.. ha! Oh yeah I can see it now.. little mobile with crosses and vials of holy water. Yeah we'll talk later.. cause we're not talking now.." She'd done all of the things he'd done and was no better a role model for anyone.

"We're not talking now? Okay, fine, not talking. Drink your pop, it'll help," he suggested, not sure what else to say if the conversation was at a standstill now. He pictured the mobile and a curious grin curled up on one side. "You think we could get it to play Zeppelin?"

She was about to pour the damn soda in his lap when he came out with the Zeppelin comment. She pulled her hand and the partially tipped soda back with a chuckle as she flopped lightly against the seat again. "I'm sure we could.." Her head shook slightly and she sighed. "I didn't mean we weren't talking now.. like I was ending the conversation. I thought you were with you're 'we'll get there and we'll talk' .. I thought you were.. brushing it off.. putting it off.. Damn it. Nothing I say is coming out right, I guess. I'm sorry."

He started quietly singing a bar or two from Stairway to Heaven, raising his hand to "twirl" in the air like the spinning mobile he envisioned. He glanced over and chuckled. "What's sorry is us fighting over who's sorrier. You stop, I'll stop." He put his hand back on the steering wheel and turned in to the lot of the motel.

"You stop first." She laughed softly, sticking her tongue out at him. "I can't promise I'll stop.. I'm sort of hormonal." She was partly kidding and partly serious, her moods were unpredictable. Her hands smoothed over her jeans as she sighed and glanced out the window at the motel parking lot. "That's a good song choice... for the mobile." She attempted to somewhat change the subject to something more light and less abbrasive.

"Yeah who ever thought it would become a kid's song about hope? When we were munchkins it was kumbayah and the Tootsie Roll song. Man, I could go for a bag of those right now," he said wistfully, pulling up in front of their room.

"Ohh tootsie rolls... that's not nice to tease me like that!" Her hand shifted out to lightly smack his arm for mentioning food that they didn't have and making her think about it.

"Hey! I got you a pop," he defended though it would scarcely save him from thinking about food, either. "I thought you were .. you know... not hungry."

[tripp]

"We got food.. just not tootsie rolls.. " She wasn't sure how to explain the sudden need for that particular food, other than he'd mentioned it. Her fingers sort of curled in the air as if trying to grasp the reason from nothing. "Thank you for the soda.. It was nice of you to think of it." She sighed and at least showed her appreciation of his thoughtfulness.

He paused. She seemed sincere and he was waiting for the punchline, or maybe just another punch. Dean stared at her a moment, opening his door slowly. "Nice..," he half-grinned. "Well... you're welcome. C'mon."

"Mmm." She watched him get out of the car and slowly exited on her side, reaching for the soda he'd gotten her before she closed the door. They weren't talking about anything important at the moment, but at least they weren't fighting and the tumbling of her tummy had subsided for now. Del moved around the car, following Dean to the room.

A cursory glance around the lot always seemed necessary. They were out and about in daylight and most of the people in this town gave him heebiejeebies most folks got only around ghosts. Dean turned the key and looked around again, making sure Del was close and not flaking out into trying to leave. She had the pop and they both had a moment to regroup and sort their thoughts. The stale room smell was almost like homecoming and he seemed to relax as soon as the door was shut behind them. "So..."

Del made her own set of glances around the lot but more of her attention was focused on Dean and trying to read him and his reactions to her and the new development. The room was the usual motel room with it's somewhat stale smell, thankfully that was more of a comfort to her and didn't turn her stomach. She played with the soda in her hand as she turned slowly to face Dean once he'd secured the door behind them. "Soo... indeed.. I don't really know what to say.."

"Well I guess we have time to figure out what to say before we're boiling water and getting towels," he sighed and somewhat shrugged, tossing the jacket aside and sitting on the end of the bed. He leaned down on his knees, his knuckles curled under his chin. His thumbs gestured slightly under the slouch. "Soooo we talk about what happens to Del Junior there, considering what we know about kids in our kind of life. See, most folks just worry about... what... chicken pox.. little Johnny failing choir in the 6th grade... stabbing Tommy in the head with a pencil? I never did that, I'm just sayin'..."

"I guess we do." Her gaze followed him as he moved from the door to the end of the bed and folded down into his thoughtful pose. She wanted to sit next to him, curl around him, and knock him back on the bed, she longed for his kiss, it felt like forever since she'd been that close to him. "You're right... we do have different worries than other parents. Wow.. we and parents in one sentance.. it's a little wild. I guess the first thing we need to figure out is what happens between us now, what happens with the kid will kind of depend on that."

His thumbs gestured again with the telltale frown that he had no idea where to start and needed a hint, maybe a vowel if he could afford to buy one. "I thought we got that part in the car. Did I miss something?"

"Maybe I did?" She said quietly, her tone careful not to sound accusing, she inched closer to him, running her hand over the back of her neck. "What did you get out of what was said in the car? From your point of view where do we stand.. what's going to happen with us?" For her it hadn't seemed settled and totally cleared up, but then again she was the hormonal and emotional one.

Dean looked up like a lost puppy but she could read a little deeper than most into the glance. If he could trust what he felt over what he knew, just once... just this once. His head dropped slowly under the caress of her fingers on his neck and he reached out to bring her into his lap. "Honestly, Del? I have no idea. You know we can't answer that any day of the week, how are we going to know next week or a month from now... or nine, or however many it is now? We've got today and maybe the next five minutes before some... I dunno, hell hounds or vorpal bunny or ... santa claus... We don't know. We just have to do what we need to do. Don't we?"

As much as she wanted to sink into his arms and lap, his words stopped her and she moved to twist away from him, the tears blurred her vision and she reached to wipe them away. "Right.. that wasn't at all what I was asking but it's obvious where your priorities, thoughts, and life are centered." She'd wanted to know where things stood between them and in regards to this child that was coming, she wasn't asking him to predict the future or what sort of things they would face due to being a hunter. They both knew what their lives were like and what things they dealt with, but what was to happen between them and where they stood with each other didn't depend on that.

As soon as Dean had left him alone in their room, Sam gently closed the lid of his laptop and leaned back in his chair. The news about Delaney had thrown him much more than he was prepared to admit, especially to Dean. He rose from the chair and pulled his rucksack out from under his bed, pawing around in it till he found the bottle of whisky he kept for emergencies.

“Hell, if this isn’t an emergency then I don’t know what is…” he muttered to himself as he uncapped the bottle and took a long swallow. The liquid burned his throat and made him cough, but he drank again anyway, feeling calmer after the second shot. All he could think was how Dean could have been so careless and straight after that, what they hell they were going to do. His mind whirled with a tangle of thoughts and he stretched out on his bed, his eyes flicking over onto Dean’s. It was a mess, rumpled sheets and blankets still in the same position Dean had thrown them off in that morning. How could his brother look after a baby when he could barely look after himself?

He lay there for a long time, staring at the ceiling and letting all the possible outcomes of this unfold in his mind…and none of them had a happy ending. When he’d first heard the news, he’d actually found it funny, his only regret being that there hadn’t been time to really rag on Dean over it. Now though, that it had had time to sink in and all the implications became clearer, there was no humour in the situation. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Not just at Dean…Delaney should have been more careful too. For normal people, events like this could be worked out, maybe even end happily but they didn’t have that luxury.

The sudden ringing of his phone startled him and he jumped up from the bed, settling himself in front of his computer again before he answered it. He knew who would be on the other end and he didn’t want Dean to know just what he was feeling. He went through the motions that Dean would expect, giving him the usual hard time and b*tching a lot, but it was all automatic. Right now he didn’t care too much about burnt-out pizza joints but he’d make the effort anyway. He opened the lid of the laptop while Dean was still on the line and steeled himself to make a start.

"Now c'mon, Del! Survival. That's my priority," he said sharply as her words bit at him and she moved out of reach. The tears were starting to rip him up and jumble his thoughts even more. "Mine, yours and Sam's... That's pretty much entirely what we're talking about, here... plus one." He hoped it was only one, not wanting to venture into thinking about multiples. He realized Sam was listening in and hadn't uttered a word since they came in. More, he realized the faint and familiar odor as he looked over at Sam and his best electronic friend. As if he wasn't already confused, he asked, "Are you drinking whiskey?"

"That's not -all- we were talking about.." She started, her tone obviously irritated again but she trailed off as Dean's attention turned to Sam. Always right back to Sam, not that she couldn't understand since they were brothers and all but... seriously, couldn't Dean concentrate on the issue at hand? She sighed and paced the length of the small hotel room. Dean and Sam needed to work things out between them, she and Dean needed to work things out.. maybe Dean just needed to work things out with himself!

"I'm going to grab a soda." She said quietly, reaching for the door to open it and glancing at the boys, they needed a few minutes and her pressence wouldn't help. Of course she wasn't planning to come back in a few minutes or at all but that was a different story entirely.

“Yeah, I’m drinking whisky. You have a problem with that?”

The challenge in Sam’s voice was loud and clear. He glanced away from Dean for a moment, watching Delaney disappear out of the door. He didn’t bother trying to keep the contempt for her out of his eyes any more than he tried for Dean.

Throwing himself down on the bed, he retrieved the bottle again and drank deeply, not bothering to offer Dean any. “You think we don’t already have enough problems or something? How could you have been so downright stupid? Actually don’t bother to answer that! I already know how you could have been so downright stupid. You can’t keep it in your pants. You’re like a damned animal at times Dean. And her…” he waved his hand vaguely at the door, “she’s no better.”

He took another long drink and lapsed into silence, his mind trying to get to grips with the thought of a baby. How they hell could they have a baby around? Finally, he glanced back up at Dean. He knew he’d probably been too hard on him but he was shocked and scared. He couldn’t have been any more shocked and scared if he’d been the father. “What are we going to do?”

"You're going to watch your mouth," Dean warned, defending her, although Sam was right. She was an animal... but that's what he really liked about her. He focused briefly on the anger and tried to pull Sam's off of him for a moment, or at least off of Del when she wasn't in the room to defend herself. "You know? Yeah, I do got a problem with that - with you being drunk on your ass when we're working on a case. I thought you were digging up the dirt on Tony's and whatever smoke-chokers are running the place and chopping up the town for their buffet. You think it was a coincidence they sent one of their lackeys over to toast her and her room over in town? Might want to check on that motel, too," he mentioned, wondering if that was one of their major pick-ups for their sacrifices... whoever 'they' were.

Dean looked back at the door Del had gone out. She just did it again, didn't she? Damnit! He ran his hands over his face and leaned on his knees. It wasn't the 'we' doing anything about the situation that was the point. What the hell was he going to do if she kept walking out before they really could talk rationally about this?

The whisky was having an effect on Sam now and watching his mouth was the last thing he felt like doing. He was sick to death of Dean and felt duty-bound to tell him this.

“Are you going to make me?” he challenged. “You know Dean? I’ve just about enough of you. You can’t look after yourself, let alone a baby. The rooms we stay in are always a mess because of you, you screw anything that moves…and if there’s gonna be a screaming baby around here then guess who’d get lumped with looking after it?” He paused to drink more from his bottle. “Me! That’s who!”

He lurched over to the table, on a roll now and not intending to stop. “And don’t you dare get on my case about drinking. Who’s the one who sits researching for hours while you go out and bang the first sl*t within grabbing distance? So if I want to drink and tell you a few home truths, I damned well will.”

The drink was well into his system now and all the frustrations of cases, and deaths, and horror were welling up and exploding out…the baby news had just been the last straw. He slumped in his chair, the anger waning, and looked up at Dean with unfocussed eyes that showed his fear and worry. “Dean, what are going to do?”

Delaney did stop to grab a soda from the machine, she leaned against it, sipping the pop and staring back at the room where she'd left the boys and occasionally glancing around the lot. There was an angry set to her jaw, she knew this was going to be very hard no matter whether Dean flaked on her or Sam drove him away.. or they decided to try to accept her and the child. She sighed, not holding out much hope for the latter if their reactions so far were any indication of how things were going to go. Another sip off the pop and she made a face, she was still hungry and needed to find a suitable place to eat, it seemed like Dean and Sam were going to be awhile and she wasn't planning to go back anyway..

Del turned and started away from their motel on foot, hoping to make it back to her car or at least a decent diner before anything else happened to screw up her day. Her head was spinning from everything and she needed some time to think and try to clear her own head as much as Dean did.

Well didn't that beat all? Next he expected Bobby was going to call him and have a bone to pick, too. What did they all think he was going to do? He'd taken care of Sam all this time. Didn't that qualify him on some level of responsible adult? He just wasn't sure about a few things that went with the package and until he and Del could really talk and she felt like coming clean about what she'd been hiding, he didn't know where he should even start, or how long he really had to figure it all out. It wasn't like he had a steady job or a house or a retirement plan. The kid wasn't going to have a little red wagon or street hockey games with his friends... or her friends, whatever. The kid was going to be born into their way of life. That was already one strike against the little guy - a huge, dangerous and terrifying strike.

"Gee Sammy, why don't you just tell me how you really feel, huh? Get it all off your chest before you heave it up in the front seat when we drive into town tomorrow." He spat, turning with the stern and soured retort and glaring at the heap of pickled collegiate intellect that seemed to lose a little momentum as he launched himself across the room. Dean had hoped Sam would be a little more supportive and maybe help with the answers. That's all the help he really needed, or maybe wanted. "What I'm going to do is get some sleep... coffee... pop... something." He was getting anxious now. Del hadn't come back in. Did he really think she would? Maybe he was stupid and hopeless. He stood up and grabbed his jacket that still reeked of peppermint, throwing it back down and yanking a button down flannel from his satchel to throw on instead. "Damnit, I just need some time to think. We still have a case, too, you know. I'll get us some coffee."

Dean stopped with the doorknob in-hand, resting his arm along the wall. Something wasn't right. Okay, so the case was still nibbling his brain to bits, or at least anything that hadn't already been pulled apart by the turn of events. "Sammy...," he started, not wanting to turn around and get into a drag-out fight with his brother right now... although maybe he needed it to focus. His fist tapped against the wall and he pulled the door open to slide his way out. Sam had his bottle and Del had a clean get away from the looks of it. He looked around the lot and dug in his pocket for coins for the soda machine. There was no sign of her anywhere - what did he expect?

After leaning against the machine, staring at the car and the empty lot around it for at least five minutes, Dean turned around to get another cola and wander back to the room, wondering if Sammy was still perched and scowling in his chair. Panic wasn't going to help him find her or find an answer to the dilemma, but research might. Something had a line on her to find her at the motel - why? What was it about her that was like the other victims? He pushed the door open and set the cold can down on the table for Sam. "It's not coffee, but it's all I got. She's gone, Sam. She's gone and we've still got a case. One of 'em we might be able to figure out."

[Lovely]

Jan 31, 2010

Leaving Bobby behind with the icy feeling still running down his back was the easy part. Dean finding a way of explaining later to Sam how everything had changed in pretty much a blink was not so easy. He wasn't in the habit of telling Sam he was right, not when it came to not all demons deserving to die violently as he once believed. All demons... all but one? One plus...? If Del really was even remotely evil-demon, what was that going to mean? He couldn't kill a kid, but a demon? He'd toasted changelings and iced homicidal apparitions two dozen times he could think of right off, and each one before pop-tarts in the morning without a second thought. He was having second thoughts, and third thoughts and a spiral myriad of other thoughts he simply wasn't used to having. He hunted and killed and dusted his hands of it to go on to the next... and save someone else, someone human. His hand pulled down over his face. It felt cold from gripping the steering wheel so long and it was starting to get dark. He stretched his eyes open wider to try and see the road better, but he was going to have to stop, regroup, think of something. He was just going off without a plan and he needed to put one together - fast. The gauge was getting low and he was just a few miles out of the next town. No Sam - no laptop. The library would be closed. The coffee shop might have a few hungry truckers with a few stray stories that might be useful, but he'd have to get food, his price of admission for the rumor mill. He had no idea if she'd even gone this way. "Wait!! Dumbass...," he hissed at himself, his palm slamming the steering wheel as the epiphany shimmered behind the sunglasses he still wore though the sun had just dropped below the horizon. Her phone! He sped up toward town and looked for the nearest gas. It wasn't likely she'd answer if he called, but he still might be able to home in on her like he had with Sammy enough times. He slid the plastic card through the pump reader, smiling a little now as it cleared. Thank you, Mr Bonham for visiting us today, read the scrolling letters on the pump that told him the time and temperature while the gallons added up, the sign beside it with the tiny cell-phone picture in a circle and a line through it, warning about shock hazards. "Bite me," he snickered, worrying about other things than the pump. He was more interested in the map on the screen of his phone that told him he'd chosen the right direction and maybe even the right town. He flipped the phone closed as something else caught his attention. The temperature had gone down five degrees since he'd last looked up and another two while he watched the numbers dance from one set of LEDs to the next. "Son of a b*tch," he muttered, looking around the station and ending the pre-paid sale with whatever had time to pour in. Something was nearby, but it was a question of how near.

When she'd... gone her own way after the last case with Dean, she'd been conflicted and knew she needed some time to think things over and figure out what she was going to do. The problem was that she didn't know what to do with herself if she wasn't working a case or looking for a case to work. That and she found herself hungry all the time, at least it felt like all the time and much more than usual.

She was gaining weight and it was becoming noticable in the small swell of her tummy, which she thought was happening too rapidly but what did she know about it? She'd started treating herself like she was the case and had compiled a little more information but there didn't seem to be much out there about half demons and pregnancies. Delaney knew about how to lay low and keep to herself, she'd been doing it for years, but this was different and she wished she had someone to help her, someone she could trust. "Hormones!" She muttered it out loud as she rounded the corner to the gas station, heading across the lot on the opposite side of the pumps from Dean. Her hand rubbed at her tummy, where she felt another of the somewhat frequent pains from the changes happening due to the pregnancy.

Her normally snug shirt that was now stretched and the action of her hand called attention to swelling of her slim form. She stopped in the middle of the lot, glancing behind her and to the buildings along the side of the street as if she felt like something was following or watching her.

This was how it started. He let his guard down and they seemed to know. Dean stood up from quickly securing the cap and saw the silhouette, thinking it was one of those apparitions like Sam had been haunted with after Jess had been killed. He blinked long and looked again, moving the sunglasses down just to be sure. "Hey!" He called out to her - it looked like Del but was it? If it was something feeding on his thoughts, pretending to be her, it knew he saw it. If it was Del... ? His heart skipped a second.

She heard the voice and her gaze turned in his direction, at first she thought perhaps she'd mistaken the tone and it was some stranger and her wishful thinking. Maybe it was some kind of trick, what were the odds of him being at this gas station just as she was coming to it? Her hand curled on her belly and she glanced down.. "No freakin way!!" She said quietly, the disbelief coming through in her voice as she glanced around the lot, she started to take a step backward. "What are you doing here? ... and I'm not falling for the trick, just so you know."

"What trick?" He asked, prepared much the same, giving her a low glance as she started to hesitate, maybe wanting to run. He had his sunglasses in hand already and gestured to them. "It's getting dark, stopped to gas up. Your turn and why not just get in the car."

"The trick where you look like the guy I'm in love with and I get in the car and then you cut off my head or disembowel me or cart me off for some sacrifice ritual.. you know, that trick." She glanced around again and then her gaze settled on him and she sort of laughed, shaking her head slightly. "I wish you were you."

The words hit him strangely and now he hesitated a moment. "You're in... If you were... are in love with me, why'd you run off, Del? Are you serious? Unless you're really talking about some de-.. dickhead.. that looks like me, cuz I could just get back in the car and let you go find ... you know... that other guy that might look like me," he said, getting that chill again, but it wasn't from Del and he had to stop himself from saying 'demon' out loud out here, especially with the icy feeling getting worse. "Del...? How about we just talk in the car," he warned, wondering if she felt it too.

There was something close, something that wasn't good but the vibe she got told her the man by the pump was Dean. "Yes, I'm in.. and not with some dickehead who looks like you.. the one who is you." A chuckle came out softly after she got the slight dig in on him, though it was said with more care than humor. "Dean.." She felt the same kind of shiver that he did and it got her feet moving in his direction. "I.." She didn't know what to say to him as she stepped between the two pumps and was close enough to touch him but didn't yet. "I was freaking out.. I left because I was freaking out."

"Well put freaking out about that on hold and tell me what this is," he said reaching out to put her closer to him and the car. "Were you tracking it?"

She shook her head as he pulled her closer to him and the car, she wrapped around him a little and took in a deep breath of his scent. "I'm not tracking anything. I was hungry again."

"If you're not tracking it... get in the car," he said, pulling his door open behind her where she could crawl across if necessary. "Besides me, who've you pissed off lately? One of the family maybe?"

"I'm a hunter Dean, just like you. We piss things and people off all the time. It's a career hazard." She tossed back over her shoulder as she climbed into his car and across the seat so he could get in. "What family?"

He snickered and shook his head, grabbing the receipt as an afterthought, fewer things to leave behind to trace him with. That thought made him actually chuckle fully a moment later, hesitating between getting something out of the trunk or just driving off. If it wanted either one of them, chances were good it would show up again. Dean got in and slammed the door as quick as the keys were in and turned in the ignition, his jaw working in familiar circles as he thought about exactly how to answer that. He was already putting the car in gear when he turned, checking past her door for suddenly rising non-corporeal road blocks or something and giving her a glance. "Was kinda hoping you might be able to tell me. I dunno, like.. mom, dad... whose ever side you get your darkside from?"

"My.." Her breath caught for a moment and she stared at him, finally just sort of nodding her head. "Drive. That side of the lot, to the left, you can't miss the hotel. It will be on your right, room 20. We'll talk once we're in the room." Del didn't deny any of what he had said, how could she?

"Reminds me of someone I know," he said, considering their last little heart to heart before their last case. "But... we're not talking now," he said with a half-grin, hardly believing she didn't even shoot him down, she didn't fight it.

"No, we're not talking now.. now we're sort of fleeing." She glanced over at him, smiling a little herself and shaking her head. "You're such a jerk.. I might have to kick your ass in the hotel room."

"Promises... but hey, if whatever that thing is on our tail happens to get between me and your foot, don't go easy. Just keep your eyes open for .. well, anything," he said, not looking over at her, a different sort of determination about him tonight not to stop and fight it or try to win but outrun it and keep her safe.

"If it gets that close to you, it's not my foot it will have to worry about." She murmured the threat with a protectiveness in her tone though it stayed low. "Just get us to the room.. Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have come out." She noticed that he didn't look at her but she didn't say anything about that, she turned her gaze out the window of the car and back toward the gas station. The chill was less sharp at the moment, but if they didn't get inside soon, it could be serious trouble.

"Workin' on it," he snipped under his breath, turning toward the hotel she'd mentioned. "Nice little ritzy spot you got here... think room service has any holy water they could bring up?"

"No but there is plenty in the room.. " She sighed and turned her gaze out toward the hotel and the promised safety of the room, She'd been smart enough to put a few strong wards in place to help keep her off the radar. Dean would be fine to come in but hopefully the other visitor would be kept out. She pulled her key into one hand and her other went to the door handle, ready to jump out once he got the car parked in front of the walkway.

Once the car was stopped he was ready and apparently so was she, either ready to gouge his eyes out with the keys in hand, or jump to the door which seemed more likely. "Okay we should be good long enough to get inside. You got salt? What about ammo?"

"I have more than what I normally carry with me. I was planning to lay low awhile. Grab what you can as fast as you can if you want more." She opened the door of the car and it closed behind her a couple seconds later as she went straight for the hotel room. She had to get the door unlocked and she wasted no time in doing so, glancing over her shoulder for Dean.

Dean didn't waste time. He was in the trunk grabbing a satchel of essential rifle, salt and the stacked trail of research breadcrumbs he'd picked up in Del's wake when she'd bolted after their case, locking down the rest and following quickly behind her. "I'm good, we're set. Lock this b*tch up and tell me what's going on," he said, turning to close the door behind him and latch every lock.

She didn't want to tell him, she wanted to go back to when he didn't know she was what she was.. how much did he know already? As he bolted the door, she grabbed the bag of salt she'd left beside it and spread a thick line of it to seal the door. He would notice when he stepped back that there was a devil's trap drawn on the floor inside the door and below the window. In the bathroom the sink was filled with water and the glint of the dark beads could be seen at the bottom. Del moved to the windows to check them again, making sure they hadn't been disturbed while she was gone and that the blinds were closed tight. Once that was done, she sighed and waited a moment, listening to the quiet. "I think we're safe.. for now at least. Where do you want me to start with the what's going on. Sounds to me like you might already know some - from the comments you made in the car." She shrugged and sat down on the bed, resting her hands down to the covers on either side of her. "I've been trying to find out anything I can that will help me figure things out, I haven't had too much luck."

"See if these help. Look familiar?" He pulled the few ripped and crumpled papers out from the satchel that were banded around a few of the elements she'd been studying as supposed clues then, if they weren't cherished mementos as he'd thought. He didn't throw them, but still set them roughly on the bed beside her. "Why didn't you tell me what was going on with you, huh?"

Delaney bit at her lip, glancing up at him but then looking away quickly, her gaze falling on the stack he set down, she couldn't try to meet his gaze because she felt guilty. "Because I didn't think you'd understand.. or be able to accept what I am."

"I understand a lot of things about a lot of things normal people don't, Del. What I don't understand is normal people, or whatever the hell they think should be normal. You got a little bit of demon blood? Hey... that's great, cuz so does Sam, but he's still my brother. Sure, yeah, I didn't understand it all at first, and maybe I still don't, but I tried. Can you let me try, here? Huh?" Dean was starting to pace a little and not get as lost as felt.

"I'm sorry. I just.. My father tried to kill me, Dean. The man who raised me and taught me everything I knew, taught me to hunt and.. he turned on me in the blink of an eye." Her head shook slightly and she let out a long sigh, she had trusted Dean more than anyone but hadn't trusted him with this. "I have more than a little.. more than Sam does. Does that make a difference to you?"

"If he's still alive? Yeah. Yeah, it does because he can try again and probably will. Does having more than a little demon make a difference? Only if you can't control it and it has any designs on killing me or Sam or you... or Del junior there," he said, shrugging into the fold of his arms. "Kinda makes me want to be sure about that too. I mean, how do I know? How do you know if .... if it was us, then and not the demon whatever it is, huh?"

"Is my father still alive? Yes, last I knew.." Delaney brought her gaze up, watching Dean and his stance as she stayed where she was on the bed. "It? heh.. it is me Dean. It's not like my demon half is a seperate entity, it's me. Have I showed any interest in killing you or your brother? I seem to remember saving you.. I'm not evil if that's what you're asking. Maybe what helped to make me was, but I have a soul and it's not black."

"Did your dad show any interest in trying to kill you until just one day.. snap? Okay, I'm sorry," he said, unfolding and returning to pacing, his palm trying to keep the heat down in his face as he mopped over it again. "Yeah, maybe I guess you could say you saved us. Am I supposed to call us even then, or something?"

"Call us even? That's not what this is about.. look you're the one who wanted me to trust you and to tell you about what is happening and let you try to handle it and help.. if you're just going to be a jerk, I can just shut up." She got up off the bed in a bit of a huff and walked to the dresser to grab a half empty soda to sip from. "My mother was killed the night my dad tried to kill me. He said I never should have been born and that it was my fault they came to our house that night."

"They? They who?" He was back to concerned again and ready to take notes and names, watching her rise up go after her drink. His thumb gestured past his shoulder to the episode they'd just escaped. "Anything to do with that?"

"Demons. I didn't exactly get their names and numbers, I was busy fighting and trying not to die. In the end I survived and my mother didn't." Her voice was slightly strained, the hurt from that day ran deep and most of the time she left it burried. "I don't know if it has anything to do with what just happened.. it might. I have more questions than answers right now."

"Well you've got one answer," he said quietly, finally crumpling down to sit beside the items of hers he'd collected. "You see me going out that door?"

Her tongue ran over her lips and she sighed, looking at him for a long time before she finally spoke. "It's one of the answers I needed most." Her voice was soft and she offered him a faint smile and a full can of soda. "It's warm, but..." Her shoulder shrugged as she dared to come closer to him, holding the can out for him, if he wanted it.

"Actually, pretty hott," he said with his half-grin and guilty admission as he reached past the can to her arm to tug her gently to his lap.

He surprised her but that was nothing new, he tended to be full of surprises and would do unexpected things. "Oh?" She asked softly as she let him pull her and she settled onto his lap, her arm sliding around his shoulders. "Hi.."

"C'mon, you know I am," he teased quietly, pulling the can from her hand now for a sip. He meant her and his eyes were warm with enough sincerity, and with the hope he had that she'd trust him and his instincts to help. He slipped the can out of reach to pay attention to her for now. The place was sealed up and warded and Bobby hadn't exactly given him a curfew when he took off. "So.. where do you want to start?"

Looking at his face close up and into his mossy green eyes, there was only one thing she wanted to do. With the slightest of smiles and her hand lifting to brush gently over his jaw, she leaned toward his tempting mouth. "With a kiss." She whispered softly as she attempted one.

He leaned into the touch, his eyes shuttering briefly with the kiss. "Del," he whispered, not wanting to be as wonderfully distracted as this. He didn't deserve it and she had answers to find, like how long they both might have before the baby would come. That didn't stop him from running his fingers over her neck and holding her to another kiss before he started to search in her eyes. "How much time have we got? Do you know that much?"

Hearing him whisper her name made her think of how they ended up in this situation, of being tangled in his arms with only sighs and skin.. They couldn't go there right now, no matter how much she wanted to forget 'right now' and get lost in him. "I'm not sure.. it seems like it's going fast and I don't know with being half .. and half.. what to expect. Maybe a couple months."

"Maybe? Okay. So still a couple months, maybe, to scramble and find out more. Tell me about the half that scares you, what you know. I only have the pieces you left behind and it's been a couple weeks," he sighed, moving his hand down her arm, wanting to listen, work, but wanting to stay close, afraid she'd run off again.

"What do you want to know about it?" She didn't want to talk about things like this with him but if they were going to make things work she had to be open and honest with him. Looking down into his eyes she knew that she could, he wasn't going to turn on her. He was right about how scared she was, but it wasn't just of that side of her that made her afraid. "I .. my mother was kidnapped before I was born. When they found her.. she was pregnant with me."

"Makes no freakin' sense, Del. When did he find out, how did your dad know? I mean, he was a hunter, right? Didn't he think that, hey, maybe she's just Daddy's little girl instead o' just thinking, hey, my wife's been missing and she's back with a bun cooking so it's gotta be a demon?" Even without pacing and scratching his head, his expression made it seem he was.

Her eyes teared up and she looked away from him, down to the floor not speaking for a long time. "Dean, he did think I was his little girl. It wasn't until I was fifteen that he.. I mean there were signs.. things that happened before but he still treated me like I was his daughter. That all changed the night my mother died. It was my fifteenth birthday."

"When they came...," he muttered, trying to look into a memory that wasn't his. He remembered the night his own mom died - he could and would never forget it and he'd only been a kid then. It still made no sense. The only thing he knew was the importance of twenty-three that was some other magic age and them coming after Sam with some kind of goblin king tale that still made his skin bristle. Sam hadn't shown signs of anything but being too smart for anybody's good, until recently. "What kind of signs?" He wondered since he'd never really seen anything remarkable around her.

"Some of the usual signs that you'd be familiar with, electronics going haywire now and then, that odd chill on the back of your neck.. and then things I did but didn't know it was me. Things moving, like a toy I couldn't reach or a picture off the wall when I was angry."

"Alright, so prom is probably a bad subject to bring up, then, huh? Buckets of blood? Nevermind," he said, shaking his head. Just like Sam, but why at fifteen? Different kind of demon, different kind of goblin king tale, he surmised, frowning at his inner thoughts and shrugging them off a little. "Okay, so there were signs and Dad decided right then and you've been running since? What else happened that night, Del? It could be kinda important to know."

"I didn't have a prom." She leaned her head on his shoulder seeking his strength and some comfort for a moment before she went on with her story. "They came while we were sleeping but I woke up with a strange feeling.. like I knew they were near. I went to wake up my parents but I didn't make it. They were already in the house, when I opened the door of my room they came at me." Her grip on his shoulders tightened and it seemed more like she was hiding there now and he might even feel the tremor that went through her. "I was able to fight them off.. but they tried to.. force themselves on me."

"Del, it's okay, they're not here... shhh," he said, brow knotted and his voice dark with a ripple of anger on her behalf. "I mean it's not like I'd expect any encounter to be a walk in the park with them. I don't need those details so much... unless.."

"Unless what?" Her voice was hardly more than a whisper where she stayed, so close to his ear.

"Nothing. You'd have said. You said they tried, so that's all they did, right?" His hand ran over her arm more.

"I see.. would it make a difference?" Her head lifted from his shoulder and she searched his face, trying to find some kind of sign that said everything would be alright.

"Just on how fast I try to kill the sons of b*tches, that's all," he shrugged. His gaze slowly lifted toward hers. He was boiling beneath the surface with that same hatred they'd both been brought up with, but this had changed so much of what they knew and she'd been dealing with this for years already, alone. The circles in his jaw started and he tried to let it go.

"Dean there is a reason I waited so long to... trust anyone. I was assaulted but they didn't succeed.. fully. It was enough to traumatize me for a long time, that coupled with the death of my mother and my father trying to kill me.. That's why I'm a loner."

"Was... were...," he said, trying to correct her but having it come out wrong. "Whatever. You're still a hunter, right? Still fighting on the same side as me, the same as Sam and Bobby, so... you're not anymore, alright? Does this look like you're alone here? Cuz if so," he shook his head, chuckling a little if she still felt that way after this little chat.

"Was, were... alone and I'm not anymore... wow.. that's.." She felt some of the tension flow out of her as she sighed. ".. I haven't had that in.. " She was fumbling and at a loss for the right words, so amazed by the fact that he was here and that he really cared. "What about Sam and who is Bobby? Just because we're all hunters, that doesn't make us anything. It doesn't make us connected. I mean, you and I.. we have.. I felt.. I feel things with you, things I've never felt before."

"A hunka-hunka burnin' love?" He'd let it slip about Bobby, but she'd meet him soon enough and what he'd said about Sam, he hoped wouldn't haunt him or cause either of them any trouble. He snickered after a moment. "It makes us connected in a lot of ways, just... well you and me are a little more connected, that's all. I haven't ever had that, Del, and I'll be seen in Hell before I let go of it."

"It being... me?" She fished a little, a bit more of a smile coming to her face to replace the worry and fear that had been there. Hearing the things he said and the way he teased, it made her feel more normal and more connected to him.

"The pop," he grinned, reaching down for the can for another sip, giving her a wink.

That earned him a light slap to the back of his head and a huff as she as reached to try and snatch the pop from his hand. "Gimme that!"

He ducked a little and held the can out of her reach. "What'll you give me for it, huh?"

"You might want to ask yourself what I'll do if you don't give it to me." She wiggled an eyebrow as she leaned over him, walking her fingers down his arm toward his hand and the soda. She also tried to sneak a kiss to his neck as she slowly 'wrestled' for the can.

He let her catch both the can and the kiss, laying back more to snake his embrace around her. "You win," he whispered, looking for more than just a simple, short kiss.

She caught the can and stretched over him to set it out of the way, then shifted down face to face with him, smiling softly. "I have a secret.. It wasn't the soda I was after." She leaned down to give him the kiss he was looking for.

He lingered but did not quite forget their situation, even though he could have been satisfied to lose days like this. He'd settle for an hour and keep an ear tuned to the room around them. "No more secrets between us okay with you?" He asked carefully. That coming from him when his entire world was burried in shadows was pretty serious.

Delaney nodded her head slowly, brushing her nose lightly against his. "It scares me, but yeah.. it's okay with me." She worried how he'd react if she used her powers freely in front of him, it was one thing to know and another to have it displayed. She'd never trusted anyone with all her secrets and to do so with him was a little terrifying really. She sealed the deal with a soft kiss and rested down against his chest and shoulder. "So you still want Zeppelin for the mobile?"

"Mmm... maybe Ozzy... bark at the moon?" He turned down to kiss her hair. "Love you Del," he murmured softly.

It wasn't a big declaration of 'I love you' with trumpets or anything, but it was perfect and true to him, to them both, she smiled at hearing the words come from him. "Love you... but I like your first choice of songs much better." She poked lightly at his chest.

[Lovely]

Feb 1, 2010
Early morning


Consciousness and the earlier than usual morning was only the start of the headache. He was used to waking up to Sam's relentless mouse clicks and swore at times he could hear Sam's ears wiggle and turn like a cat's as if chasing a live mouse when he found something good they could use and was waiting for Dean to wake up. "Coffee," he muttered, still half-out and slowly opening his eyes, expecting to see Sam hunched over his laptop, but the smiling and patient waiting wasn't Sam's this time. Groggy and confused at first, Dean blinked a few times and rubbed at his eyes. It was really Del? "Mm... better than coffee," he smiled then more than usual as he tried to sit up, then realizing the hand behind his head wasn't going to let him. He tugged and turned to look over his shoulder to find himself securely attached to the bed frame. He chuckled at first. "C'mon, I know we had a good time last night, but I don't remember this part."

Del had been waiting for him to wake up for awhile and she was happy when he finally did, even giving him a sweet smile when his eyes fell on her. A feather in her hand that she stroked while regarding him thoughtfully. "We've had several good times.. haven't we Dean?"

"Um... well, yeah," he stammered, not sure he liked the tone drifting under the smile. He tugged again and was pretty sure he wasn't getting loose without a key. "You wanna tell me what's going on? Maybe?" He tried smiling, but the smile fell flat when he tugged again, harder, and felt the edges starting to bite a little more.

"Of course I'm going to tell you.. silly. I was just trying to build up to it." She glanced at his wrist and how he struggled against the cuff that held only one arm secure, she'd left the other free. "What's the matter? Don't you trust me?"

He grinned sharply. "Sure. I love to trust a woman I can wake up to and find she's tied me up, except this wasn't exactly the scene afterward that I had in mind. What's the feather for?"

"The feather was for whatever I decide to use it for." She didn't really smile now, she had more of a thoughtful and sad expression as she reached to run the soft tip of the feather lightly down his chest. "Love to trust a woman.. Do you really trust me though? Even if the scene isn't exactly like one of your fantasies.."

"Del, c'mon, this isn't exactly funny. Yeah I trust you. I thought we went over this, oh, at least three times last night... speaking of fantasies. That's two I can cross off my list, thank you very much," he said, actually grinning wistfully for a moment before tugging again, hoping the chain might give way or they'd turn out to be weak plastic, but the cuffs weren't undoing themselves.

His mention of last night and other fantasies made her smile as well, she sighed deeply and closed her eyes for a moment. "Mmmm you're welcome and thank you.. for that third thing.. that was definitely one I've been wanting to try.. Stop trying to get away." She pouted again and flicked the feather off to the side. "You said the 'L' word Dean.. and so did I.. I love you.. and you tend to shy away from serious talking about us.. you know, you and me, and I need to discuss some serious things with you. That's why you're cuffed to the bed, so you can't run away from it or distract me.. even if I like the way you distract me."

"Run away? Hey, you're the one who ran on me, remember? And I don't shy away, I just ... try not to talk about things like that. You know why."

"mmhmmm." She slowly moved to climb on top of him, straddling his waist and leaning over him to make their conversation a little less hostile and more tender. "I know.. and I understand why, but I really need to talk about it. Promise after this I won't bring it up again, okay?"

"I dunno, sitting there like that, I'm not sure that's true," he said, reaching out to her leg with the hand that would move at least. His voice shook a little. "Del, look, I'm ... I get it, okay? What do you want me to say? Huh?"

She looked down into his eyes, gently brushing her fingers over his cheek as she bit her lower lip. "Are you going to marry me, Dean?" She realized after the words came out that she'd said them and that was really what she wanted to know and it scared her to feel the way she did when it came to him and this baby.

The color melted from his expression and his hand pulled up to his chest, laying flat though there was a slight tremor in it. Shying away? More like tilting, completely off the scale and needing to be reset. He stared up into her eyes as long as he could before turning away to look at his captive hand again and start tugging again. He chuckled, "You don't want that. Now, c'mon, gimme the key."

It was what she wanted and his reaction hurt more than she wanted to admit, more than she expected and she couldn't hide it, though she tried. "Right.. I mean who wants to marry the man they love.. that's just silly." She cleared her throat and started to shift off of him, she needed a minute to gather herself and put on her 'happy face'. Without the benefit of a key the lock on his cuffs clicked and both ends slowly opened to release him. "I don't have a key for those."

"Just gimme the...! Key...," he growled, not believing her, but falling nearly silent as his last tug pulled free of the now-unlocked cuffs. He sat up, clamboring after her. "Del, just hang on. Hear me out, okay? Okay??"

She spun to face him as he scrambled after her, she hadn't gotten very far, but turning was a mistake.. there were tears in her eyes and she couldn't hide them as she faced him. "I heard you.." She wiped at her cheek. "Okay.. what do you have to say?"

Concern, worry... fear... scanned her dampened features as he let go and reached up to brush her cheek, not quite touching her, not sure if he should. "I didn't say no. Did you hear me say no?"

"You didn't say yes.. you said I don't want that.. putting it back on me so you didn't have to say no. I still got the message." He was blurry through the tears that shimmered in her eyes and the fact that he didn't touch her made the tears flow a little harder.

"You don't! Look at me. You've trusted me this far. Trust me when I say you don't. You know what I am, Delaney, what I do... what I have to do. You think that's a good life for a kid? Huh?"

"You are such a coward! Just admit you don't want to marry me. Stop trying to put it on me.. and saying I don't want to do it. I do. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want that.. I wouldn't feel like my heart was being ripped out right now, if I didn't want it!" She let loose on him in a low emotion filled voice as the tears flowed freely down her cheeks. "I fight the same things you do. If it's so terrible, why did you even come here? Why make me think you actually give a damn about me and this baby if you're just going to cop out and use some lame ass excuses? Getting married doesn't change what we are or what we do.. it's about love and family and wanting something more than the horror we constantly face." She pushed his chest to move him away from her and turned to head into the bathroom.

"Yeah, well it changes me!" he defended weakly as she went to the other room. As far as he knew there wasn't a window she could jump out and it was only as stocked as the packs they brought with them. "Makes me more important than I am," he muttered, his fingers tugging into his own hair and wondering if pulling it out might help the burning in his brain cool down. He followed after her to try to keep her from locking him out completely.

He would find her on her knees, bent over slightly, one hand on the floor and her other arm wrapped around her middle. She was still crying quietly but beyond being upset she was also quite uncomfortable and in pain. The baby was growing faster than a normal human baby would and she was half human so the changes within her were sometimes very painful, she'd learned.

"Del, I'm sorry...," he started with lame words that didn't even begin to touch the damage that had been done. He knew that, but nothing else would come out as he found her crumpled. The whimpers didn't sound so much like heartache, he realized, having heard similar sounds from the pleading and broken shells of humans that had suffered possession and exorcism. It was pain that caused sounds like that. The last time he'd checked, exorcism didn't help honest pregnancy. "What makes it stop? What can I do?"

For several long moments she didn't answer him, then finally she whispered. "It will pass." The muscles of the arm she supported herself with were taunt and straining against her weight as she tried to fight the urge to curl into a ball against the pain. Her jaw clenched and then loosened again, her breath uneven in response to a sharper pain. "Help me.. back to the bed.." She wasn't really sure if she could even get up right now, but it was try to get to the bed or curl up on the bathroom floor. This episode had hit fast and hard or maybe she hadn't been paying attention to catch the warning signs and early twinges that would tell her to stop what she was doing and lay down for awhile.

"Damnit...," he uttered, upset for not noticing, for being wrapped up in hiding and not seeing that she'd been hiding a lot from him, hiding how much this was hurting her physically. He reached out to help her up, loading her into his arms to carry her if necessary.

She managed to get to her feet but wasn't on them long, not resisting how he seemed to offer to carry her and loaded her into his arms just as her legs would have crumbled beneath her anyway. One arm went around his back and she gripped his shoulder, the other curled around her middle again. "I'm sorry." She whispered in a voice strained with pain and the left over emotion from their arguement, she was sorry for being weak, for making him help her, and for the fight they'd been having. She bite her lower lip and her head rested against his chest and shoulder.

"Don't be, it's okay. It's gonna be okay," he murmured. He had no idea if it would be. He'd never done this before and whatever he was doing now he had no idea if it was right. The way she clutched at her stomach made his own hurt a little. Maybe it was just the fight, the not knowing the right answer and not saying what he really meant. He carried her back to the pillows, laying her down where he'd been chained up earlier. The bed was comfortable, he'd give it that much. He was able to sleep enough not to notice the cuff, maybe she could rest enough not to notice the pain so much. He kissed her forehead and rested his cheek against hers. "I'm sorry," he whispered, eyes closed and his voice waivering slightly.

She looked up at Dean as he set her down before closing her eyes to hide the pain that would be so clear in them. Half of it physical and half of it emotional though the physical was winning. He kissed her forehead and she felt his cheek against hers, hearing the words he whispered and the way his voice waivered. Del loved him and despite the way he had hurt her this morning, she wasn't angry with him. She reached to run her fingers over his other cheek, keeping one arm draped over her middle. "It's okay.. it's going to be okay." She softly repeated his words back to him, attempting to reassure him though her voice was somewhat strained. "I love you."

He turned and kissed her cheek. "You need to rest. You're delirious," he said, almost chuckling about that. Wasn't that a requirement for anyone who cared about him - they had to be half crazy, or worse? The 'worse' part scared him a moment. People he cared about died, left, changed... Hell, Dean, all people change. He could hear Bobby's voice clear and wise and ornery as the night was long in his head over some forgotten something that perked up as he thought about what really scared him. If he let go long enough, someone would fall... they'd leave, he'd leave.... and here he was pushing her away? Damn it to hell boy, John didn't raise no idyuts... Dean chuckled then, out loud and realized his cheek was wet, but not from resting against hers.

Her eyes rolled at his reply to her and she turned her face slightly away from his, sighing quietly. She wondered what this meant for her future, she'd have to go somewhere to have this baby in secret and didn't know if any place would be safe. The pain in her heart rivaled that of her abdomen at the moment, she'd have to leave the man she loved and had no idea how she was going to survive that. What choice did she have? He was pushing her away. Sure, he felt bad that she was in pain and helped her, but how long before he went right back to telling her she didn't want him? How was she going to have this baby and raise it on her own? How would she continue to be a hunter? That wasn't like other jobs and being a single mother.. the thoughts made her head swim and she closed her eyes for a moment. She opened them when she heard him laugh but didn't tip her face back toward him.

"There's got to be a way," he said, shaking his head. He sat next to her, partly smiling and raising his hand to clear his own watery eyes. With a sniffle he stiffened his jaw and held back the rest. "I'll think of something, but don't you think of going out that door. Not if this... how long has this been happening? Huh?"

"What are you talking about?" She asked, turning her gaze back to him briefly but the pain was very obvious in her eyes and she didn't want him to feel guilty. "A way for what?.. you'll think of something for what?" Her voice wasn't much above a whisper, speaking louder wasn't a good idea at the moment.

"To make it alright, okay? To make this work out somehow. And how long? I mean labor is one thing, but it's too soon. Has this been happening since we.. ... since I did this to you?"

She kind of ignored his comments about making it alright, she didn't know right now if it was driven by guilt over her pain and couldn't open that wound again, yet. "You had it right the first time.. we. You didn't do this to me. We did this together, I was more than willing.. eager.. I remember tackling you enough times." She sighed softly and finally settled her gaze on him, letting him see how much she meant her words and how his hurt her. "Why is it so hard for you to accept us?" She reached for his hand. "It has been happening for awhile.. it was just twinges and pains here and there but it's been happening every few days for the past couple weeks and been intense."

"Weeks?" His hand slid naturally around hers as he turned more to face her. "And you didn't think it was important to let me know a little sooner? Look, I'm not angry, and I'm not walking away. I'm scared, alright? There, you have it. What happens when we do this? We don't get... sunset beaches and balloons and tin cans on the bumper. That's just not part of our world," he said, the set of his jaw working loose into a softer, sadder smile. "You deserve sunset beaches and all that, Del, not bullets and blood and chaos."

"Dean.." She started and then trailed off, her hand squeezing his more tightly. "I don't want sunsets and beaches. I want you.. since the night we met.. Don't you get that? My life as been blood and chaos and bullets from the start, if I were to walk away from you now and never see you again, my life would still be that. Stop trying to protect me from things you can't change, and stop trying to protect me from you, damnit! I don't want to be protected from you."

"Kinda how this got started, isn't it?" He grinned and held tighter so she wouldn't pull away. The grin broke through only briefly. "Alright, alright. At least that's settled that you know I can't give you the beach or the sunset, maybe the sunrise after a long night's hunt. Stars, fog... dirt... we're good at finding dirt," he rattled on. "That's about all I got, Del. I'm not exactly rich and a crib really isn't gonna fit in the back seat. Got some suggestions on that one?"

"I already knew that, you're the one who wouldn't.." She felt another sigh ease out and her words trailed off for a moment, she was in too much pain to really fight with him. The pain was starting to ease but had not disappeared. "I'll get one of those neat SUV things.. " She shrugged her shoulder to his question. "Whatever we figure out, I have a feeling two of us would be better than either of us trying to do it alone."

"A soccer mom ride?" He chuckled, envisioning the scene, how the arsenal might look with the yellow placquard in the window.. Hunter in training on Board. Maybe he'd share that later. His disbelief he couldn't hide. "Our kid's gonna have a soccer mom ride? No, no no... that's not happening. You and me... we keep my first baby girl out there. It can fit a car seat... somehow."

She felt herself chuckle and then bit her lip to keep in the graon as the laughter shook her slightly. "Hey it was just a thought.. you think I want to switch from my sweet ride to some piece of.. right.. we'll keep our cars. Besides, we both keep most of our arsnel in the trunk, plenty of room for the carseat in the back..."

He felt himself smiling a little more. Talking about it was helping but he still wasn't sure and he heard the edge of the pain still in her voice. "Do you really think we need both? Seriously... I mean, wouldn't we need to be... together more?" He stammered a bit, afraid to say such things out loud, waiting for the shoe to drop or black smoke to roll in.

She pouted at the thought of giving up her metal baby, but at the same time.. the thought of being with him more and that he was reaching out to offer that made the frown melt into a smile. "Okay.. together more.. but I'm not getting rid of my car. We should keep it.. just in case.. you know?"

"I know a storage place in Springfield that'll keep her safe, cheap, no questions. Or, we just start the caravan now. How's the pain?" The rest was important, but things they could talk about later.

She nodded about the car, the storage place sounded like a good plan, though they would have to get there first. "Sticking together is probably the smartest idea and we should take my car to storage.." She quietly agreed to leave her car behind and go forward with him. "The pain.. is getting better. It's less now."

"Are you sure? You just agreed to give up your car for me," he grinned, leaning over her, nodding to her still slim belly. "For her.. him... " He trailed off and tried to kiss her and help the tears quiet more.

"I'm sure." She started to smile and then her hand tightened on his as she eased up to meet his kiss, keeping it gentle. She fell back against the pillows and stared up at him for a moment. She gave a soft groan as she felt another pain in her abdomen and then it faded away. "Okay.. it's done now.." She nodded and her hand lay flat over her abdomen.

"Then move over. You're on my pillow," he teased, nudging her a little. "Maybe for once, thinking on my feet isn't the best plan."

"Come on.." She patted the bed and started to shift over a little. "Better get used to sharing it." She stuck her tongue out at him and curled around the pillow in question.

"Long as it's with you and not Sam, deal," he said, chasing after the darting tongue. "If you keep the pillow, you gotta give me something."

"I said share.. and with me.. not Sam." She managed to laugh without pain and reached to pull him down on the pillow with her. "What did you have in mind?" She asked as she kept a kiss just out of his reach.

[Lovely]

Feb 2, 2010
3pm

Delaney had gotten the first real sleep she'd had in months.. maybe even years, though she always seemed to sleep better when Dean was with her. They'd certainly exhausted each other well enough to encourage the sleep they both greatly needed. She didn't want to get out of the warm bed or the tangle of sheets and limbs, feeling Dean wrapped around and not pushing her away. It was time to get packed up and part of that meant moving her gear into Dean's Impala from her car. She stretched and leaned to start picking up the litter of her clothes and shoving it into her bag, while putting other pieces on. "I'm not sitting in the back seat." She announced out of the blue as she snapped the clasp of her bra together.

"Mmm... Side of bacon, extra crispy and one of those cream fill-... what?" His head rose off the pillow then thumped back as the flood of consciousness began filling his head. The voice wasn't Sam's, but it wasn't the waitress in some forgotten town, either, the only other sound he heard often enough to repeat without thinking. "Del. Hi. What time is it?" There was daylight coming through the thread-bare curtain at entirely the wrong angle, adding to his confusion as he rubbed the corners of his eyes and reached for the phone that wasn't where he normally left it in reach.

"Yeah, we can get breakfast on the road." She grabbed her panties and threw his boxers at him. "I'm not sitting in the backseat and it's about three." She glanced at her watch as she picked it up off the bedside table. She sighed and ran her fingers back through her hair, her cute little smile came out for a moment as she watched him all sleepy and waking up.

"Three a.m.? Are the headlights on?" It had been a while since he'd slept this deeply and he wasn't processing well, yet. His shorts flopped next to him and the memory of recent events began bubbling to the surface. Underneath each thought was the echo of 'where is Sam', but he tried to get past that and decipher the time and space of the room. "Three? In the afternoon? Suck! We missed check-out!"

"Yes, three in the afternoon. Dean.. I paid for a week. We could stay a few more days and be fine. This was my hideout to figure things.. I wasn't sure how long it would take." She shrugged and sighed and kept watching him as he tried to get his bearings and she found thier clothes.

His head hit the pillow again and he rolled over, hoping the cement truck filling his brain would roll off of his forehead and onto the floor. He pushed himself up slowly and reached a foot out to the floor. He couldn't be hung over. He didn't remember drinking. Maybe this was what exhaustion felt like when he wasn't ignoring it and moving on to every next thing he kept moving on to, he thought. He leaned on the bed still as he steadied the one foot then grabbed the shorts she'd thrown to him and slowly starting getting ready. "Right, sure. A week. I knew that," he said, noticing her moving around much more freely than he was at the moment. "What else did I say... just now? Anything?"

"Dean? Are you.. what's wrong with you?" She was hesitant, wondering if perhaps she'd been too rough or pushed him too far, demanding his attention to feed her longing for him. "I don't think I mentioned before, how long I'd paid the room for.. " She stopped dressing and shifted over to the side of the bed next to him.

"Nothing," he shrugged, passing it off in every way that said it wasn't 'nothing'. He had the shorts on and sat down again, rubbing the heels of his palms gently over his eyes. He started to reach for his boots even though he hadn't finished getting dressed and he stopped, looking at them in his hand. He looked at her, slightly haunted, perhaps a little worried. "Seriously, was there anything I said.. before the thing about headlights?"

"Just something about bacon and cream filled..." She chuckled and gently put her arm around him. "Dean.. I didn't hurt you.. did I? I mean.. you know.. it was very... mmmm intense.." Del bit at her lower lip, giving him those eyes and a bit of a shy smile.

He shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I guess it was just a dream. Tired though. Heh, so what else is new?" He hadn't ever really heard himself admit it out loud, but he was beyond tired and maybe it took a day or two without focusing on a job to realize it - a day or two without Sam keeping him going to the next job and the one after that. He shook his head again and put the boots down. "Pants help. I'll be back," he said, pointing his thumb at the washroom.

"Right.." She licked at her lips, letting him go and glancing away, trying to gather herself to deal with his confusion. Del was afraid that she'd hurt him, she'd always held back much of her strength and of course didn't unleash it fully in thier play but had shown it more and been aggressive in thier romping. "Dean.. you do remember... I mean.. about the.. baby.. and what we decided?"

"Sticking together," he said, then the water ran for a moment. He shuffled back to the doorway and leaned there, looking at her from a slightly-more awake visage. He'd run a little water through his hair and over his face. "Putting your ride on blocks for a while and sticking together. Right?" He wasn't sure that it was right.

Her smile was captured by her teeth grasping her lower lip and her eyes shone brightly as she nodded her head. "Yeah.. that's what we decided. I was a little worried you wouldn't remember and we'd have to go through it all again.." She ran her hands over her knees as she stayed sitting on the bed, her eyes drinking him in where he leaned in the doorway.

"Nah. Wait.. which parts, exactly? Some wasn't all that bad," he grinned, more awake now, and more himself. He moved away from the door and started picking up the other strewn pieces. "I also remembered that you agreed we'd take my car. If we're storing yours, we're running out of daylight."

"Yes, I agreed... I don't like it all that much.. leaving my baby in some cold dark shed all alone." She folded her arms and pouted for about a minute before she was distracted by watching him bend and reach for some of his clothes. He was way too good looking to spend as much time as he did being dressed. "You heard me right?.. about not sitting in the back."

"Yeah, I heard you. You might have to get used to it though. Unless you want to take that up with Paul Bunyan when he gets back. I'm driving, enough said," he said with a shrug that some sacrifices would still be made. Hopefully Sam's, since he didn't want to fight over seating arrangements, but it was likely inevitable.

"Sam is coming here??" She flew off the bed but had nowhere to go in her brief moment of panic and stood there huffing with her hands on her hips. She had to direct her fuss somewhere and her gaze narrowed on Dean. "So you drive, Sam sits next to you and who cares where I go? Might as well toss me in the trunk." She was just mad that he told her to get used to it and that he'd called Sam without telling her. She yanked on her jeans, leaving them undone around the waist as she grabbed a clean pair of socks and a shirt.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the guillotine, this morning. Don't chop my head off, sister," he said sharply as she set off. He watched her pout and storm into her clothes. "I care. Okay? I care, but think about it. Sam is like ten feet tall and if it's a long trip to the next town, I'm not listening to him whine about leg room."

"Someone doesn't like being ambushed by... ten foot brothers." There was less fight in her voice as she plopped down to pull her boots on. "When did you call him?.. I mean.. I thought we'd be going to him or meeting him somewhere." She was chewing at her lip as she looked over at Dean. "I'm sorry.. I think I'm just hungry.. I get kind of cranky."

"Did you see me pick up the phone?" Dean shrugged again, gesturing to the air for a little help in trying to figure out what he'd missed. He didn't even know where he'd left his phone to call even if he needed to now. "I have no idea when or where. He's.. wherever," he sighed, starting to get that antsy-crawly feeling that no news was not good news. "Yeah, food will probably help us both."

"No.. I did not see you pick up a phone.. I just.. you said when he gets back.." She was pouting more now that Dean acted like she was being crazy and didn't know what she was talking about. "Where did you leave him when you came to find me?" She asked as she went about stuffing the rest of her clothes into her bag, looking under the bed to make sure she hadn't missed anything.

"When he's back.. you know... I meant, when we're all together. Are you sure -you're- okay?" He gave her a strange look now built from the same worry he had any time Sam had nightmares about Jess. There was more under the calm surface than any of them shared with each other, sometimes. "I didn't exactly leave him. He went... to visit Bobby," he said more under his breath, not sure she'd like that fact or not. He slipped his shirt over his shoulders and looked at the jeans, wondering if he could stand one more day before finding a laundromat.

She didn't know who Bobby was, she'd never met thier friend and she just kind of nodded her head. "Oh... that's.. good. Um.." Delaney zipped up her bag and set it on the bed then walked over to stand in front of the dresser, facing away from Dean. "I.. am as okay as I can be.. which is not really all that okay. You know? I've told my.. boyfriend that I'm half demon and I'm pregnant.. I'm half demon Dean... I have alot of questions, that I don't have answers to.. and I don't know where to even look for answers." She sighed and her eyes closed. "If you weren't here... I don't know what I'd do.. Thank you for.. sticking with me."

"Not sure what I'm supposed to say, Del. You're welcome doesn't sound right and no problem sounds like there is a problem and there isn't... not so much, really. I've got questions. You've got questions. Far as I know, the only one with answers would have been Dad... or Bobby."

"You don't have to say anything.." She turned and looked at him, wishing he was closer.. wishing for a moment he was one of those guys who would.. Del looked at him for a moment and sighed. "Just.. come here.. please?" She reached out her hand, curling her fingers to beckon him but trying to be careful not to pull him toward her. "I don't know Dad or Bobby.. but.. if you trust.. I can try to.. I won't promise that I wont be twitchy.. or try to flee.."

"Promise me something else - that you won't make me any promises," he grinned, zipping up the jeans he decided he could live with a few more hours. He started on his shirt buttons and moved closer to her, worried that she might be having that pain again. "Can't describe either one of them to you, so I guess you'll just have to meet them. Bobby, anyway."

"I'm not making any promises.." She reached to pull him to her as he came closer, turning her head to rest it against his shoulder, she just needed a minute or two. "You're kind of crazy.. It's a good thing.. especially being involved with me." Her fingers brushed over his chest and she sighed softly. "I guess I have to meet this Bobby. I guess that means we have to get going."

He curled around her a little and let go. "Yeah, better go," he sighed, hesitating from stepping back. He couldn't stay like this as much as he wanted to, not until things were settled as much as they could be. Bobby had the answers and Sam was there asking the questions. Where did that leave him, he wondered, and where would that eventually leave Del? No promises, he reminded himself. Then he wouldn't have any to break.

[Lovely]

Febuary 2, 2010
7pm


They had dropped her car off and now drove away from the storage unit, leaving behind a piece of her and something she'd worked very hard to get. She felt the loss and the strange fear of what the future held, at one moment she felt that she and Dean were very much on the same page and the next she started to doubt it. The miles passed in silence as they drove, she stared out the window, tapping her finger against her lips and glancing at Dean's profile now and then.

"You can keep tapping that one note, but it's never gonna sound like Daltrey," he said with a sigh, glancing back briefly from his focus on the road. The next glance was to the dim radio that had no station close enough to tune in and the scatter of tapes that he wasn't sure had any life left in them to play. He reached for one, flipped it and flipped it again before tossing it back in the box by his arm. "Say something. Anything. b*tch me out, but don't just stare at me. Tell me some random mumbo jumbo that's way over my head... hell, even a knock-knock joke. I'm goin' nuts here."

"What?" She moved her hand and then realized what she'd been doing, her head shook slightly. "Oh.. sorry." Her sigh was soft and she looked to him with a slight smile. "I don't want to b*tch you out.. I'm just thinking.. I wasn't staring, I was glancing. There is a difference you know?"

He glanced back. "Okay, then what are you not staring at and thinking about? Usually when someone clams up like this, they're mad.. still," he pointed out, almost joking and trying to grin, but he felt the sharp edge between them. "Couldn't talk being in two cars, now we're both here, so say it."

"I'm not mad." She stated firmly but her voice was soft almost as if it hurt her for him to assume she was angry just because she was quiet and thinking. "That car is the only thing I have.. had for a really long time and I just left it behind.. wouldn't you feel.. a little odd if we'd left the Impala behind?"

"Don't even suggest it," he said without a blink, thinking she wanted to turn around and change it up. He spoke to the dashboard, "She didn't mean it. It won't happen again." He turned a slight glare at Del. "Alright, I get your point, but it's a little odd not having a conversation. I mean I like quiet, but... not when I'm thinking too much."

"I wasn't suggesting it.. sheesh, paranoid much?" She shook her head, almost laughing but still worried and thinking too much herself. She needed some distraction as much as he did, it would seem. "Well, what are you thinking about?"

He was about to start in with the 'I asked you first', but she'd already told him. He wasn't sure how to say what was on his mind. His thumb tapped the steering wheel a moment. "First? Getting Sam to work on the case. Second? Wondering what's going to happen next.. on the case I mean. I can't help it, Del. What if something happens to you, huh?"

"So.. I'm a case?" Her voice held a bit of shock and her expression was one of disbelief, it seemed they weren't exactly on the same page at the moment. It took a little longer for his last comment to fully sink in and the anger faded some and she reached over to put her hand on his arm. "I want to promise you that nothing will happen to me, but we both know that's not a promise either of us could make. How do you think I feel? What of something happens to you? Worse.. what if something happens to you because of me?"

"No you're... that's not what I meant. I meant whatever Sammie's working on. That case, or the next one, or the one after that. I'm almost good at looking out for myself, Del. That's changed a little, here."

"I can't do this again Dean.." She shook her head and her gaze went back to the scenery that she wasn't even really paying attention to. "I can't sit here and worry about whether or not you want me.. us around. Either you're one hundred percent in or you're out.. there is no halfway.. I understand that you worry about Sam but like you said.. things have changed. You need to let him take care of himself a little and stop worrying about what he's doing every second."

"Blood is blood," he muttered after a moment with his jaw tight. He looked over at her as she diverted her attention to the scenery. "I'm in. Family is family, doesn't matter what happens. You're both family as much as Sammie is and we knew going in - all of us for all reasons that we do what we do. If that even makes sense, but it should. It's just... he's a kid, that's all. I wanted a better life than this, but this is all we have."

Delaney's jaw clenched as Dean's response about his brother began with 'blood is blood' - she might not be, but the child she was carrying was his blood! She fumed for a few seconds and cooled as he declared that he was in and that they were family. "Who is just a kid? Sam looked pretty grown up the last time I saw him."

"Hello? The kid - that one riding shotgun with you, remember? That's what this is all about, isn't it?" He looked back to the road, trying to concentrate. He wasn't even sure what they were still arguing about. He didn't want Del hurt any more than he wanted the kid hurt. He remembered his own childhood that was full of bullets and scars - most of them under the skin that made him hurt worse than the physical holes ever did. "We do what we have to do, just keep going like we always have."

"Don't hello me! You're not an easy person to read or know what you're thinking.. or get close to.. other than physically!" She snapped the last a little more sharply, she was pretty much the same on most of that and slumped down in the seat a bit. Her hand ran over her face and sighed heavily. "We do.. what we have to do.. but this is a little different.. this is a child.. it shouldn't be just doing what we have to."

"So I'm not supposed to be all responsible now? I'm doing the best I can. Alright? I'll do what I have to do to keep you two safe and... and whatever else it takes to make sure he grows up a little more sane than the family he's coming into," he said, hoping for some level of understanding that he wasn't trying to argue but she found fault with anything he tried to say to make it right.

"No.. that's not what I'm saying.. what I was saying is pretty much what you just said about trying to make sure he grows up better than either of us did.." Her voice trailed off with another sigh and she shifted to try to be more comfortable in the seat. "I don't want to just go through the motions and do what -has- to be done.. I want.. to feel like you care and not because you feel like you have to.." Her hands raked back through her hair and she closed her eyes, letting her head thump against the seat. "If this is the best you can do.. then I can't ask for more.. and I'm sorry."

"Thanks for making me sound like the door prize winner for father of the year," he sighed. "Would you give me a chance? Huh? I've never done this before. I'm rolling with the punches is what I meant... kinda. I pretty much raised Sam but that's different. He's different, but that's got nothing to do with this. Ask for whatever you need, cuz I sure as heck don't know anything about how to do this, so I'll help you if you help me. Deal?"

I wasn't..." She clenched her jaw and her fist, wanting to punch something but he'd probably cry if she hit the Impala's dash! "I'm not just talking about.. being a father Dean. You're that wanted, unwanted, good, or bad.. I'm talking about the rest too.. not just being there for the kid on weekends and a couple of weeks in the summer! You want me to ask for what I need? Really? Cuz I will... actually I already did and we've been going in circles since! I need to be a family.. I need our kid to know his parents were more than just an hour in a motel room to each other!"