3Disclaimer: As many of you know, I have absolutely no rights to the show Supernatural. I do, however, own the character Deirdre Kavanagh, as well as her family, and will be very displeased to see any of them reproduced by anyone else.
Author's Note: I completely forgot last time, and there's no excuse for it, but I'd like to thank fpvs for checking this through and making sure my grammar was good. You've been a total lifesaver. Anyway, hope everyone enjoys!
Sully sat beside her, completely alert as she sped down the highway away from the gas station and the strange man. To keep herself calm, she'd put on Evanescence and blared the stereo, knowing that Sully was used to it by now. But a glance in her rearview mirror showed the beautiful black car following her. She narrowed her eyes, trying to think of what she could do to put them off her trail.
Meanwhile, Sam was having a one sided pissing match with Dean. The fact that his brother was just sitting there, looking angrily ahead as he drove, only gave him more fuel. "What happened to finding a motel? Damn it Dean, would you stop thinking with your downstairs brain just once?" But it still didn't get a response out of Dean. Sam was so frustrated he nearly hit Dean. Only self preservation kept him from doing it.
Ignoring his brother wasn't giving Dean its usual glow. He was too busy trying to figure out what it was about that woman that pulled him. He couldn't help but wonder if she'd put some sort of spell on him, other than the whole hand thing. But at the same time, she'd wanted away from him, so nothing was adding up. Then, as he watched, the car ahead of him just slowed. Confused, he braked as well, before parking on the side of the road.
Dree simply laid her head on the steering wheel and closed her eyes. Why, of all times, did her 'Cuda have to die now? She took care of her baby, didn't she? Then Sully began to growl deeply, which signaled that the man had decided to take advantage of her misfortune. "Go away," she said through her open window when she sensed him beside her.
Dean's jaw clenched for a moment, and then he said "Can't do that. Don't know why yet, but I can't." There was another pause, in which she had time to wish for her sister's ability to disappear. Then she heard him sigh. "Look, we can give you a ride back to town so you can get a tow truck."
That made her sit back and look at him. Then she pulled out her cell phone and showed it to him. "Thanks, but I can handle it myself." She just wanted him to go, but that seemed unlikely to happen in the near future. As she wondered what she should do, Sully's growls deepened. She grabbed his snout before he could begin to bark, not wanting any more of a headache then she already had.
Finally, she let out her own sigh and started to open her door. Dean backed away as she stepped out, a small smile forming on his face, even though the dog was out as well. He waited while she closed the windows and locked the doors. But when she walked past the Impala and just headed back the way they had come he began to scowl instead.
Sam, having watched everything happen, grinned. He could definitely like this girl. "Problem?" he asked his brother when Dean came to a stop next to the Impala. At Dean's glare he laughed. "You know not all girls are going to just fall at your feet, right?"
"Shut up," Dean said as he got in. He debated whether or not to just put the witch out of his head and drive straight, but he couldn't seem to do it still. So he started the Impala again and pulled around to pace with her. "C'mon, are you really going to walk all the way back to town?"
She glanced over at him. "It's a whole lot safer than getting into a car with two strange men." Sully barked once, as if to agree.
"We're only trying to help. Aren't we Sam?" But Sam, still smiling, only mimed zipping his lips. Dean would definitely have to get him back for that later.
And it was like that the whole way back to town; Dean cajoling, Dree finding ways around it, and Sam sitting there highly amused. One thing both men did notice about her was her apparent lack of tiring. They'd been about two miles out when she broke down, and the witch wasn't even winded when they entered the little parish.
But Dree was thankful that the mechanic's shop was on the outskirts. She walked right in and looked around for whoever worked there. Behind a desk in the corner sat a woman who looked to be in her mid fifties. She looked up when Dree entered. "Can I help you, chère?"
Dree smiled and let some of her weariness show. "Yes, my car broke down about two miles outside of town. I was hoping someone would be able to tow it back here to fix it."
"Oh you poor dear." The woman stood and rushed over to her. "Did you walk all this way?" When Dree nodded the woman burst into a spiel of French, most of which she recognized as swears. Normally she'd be translating it all in her head, but she was too tired to bother. The woman steered her over to a chair and sat her down. "You sit right there. My Johnny will go get your car for you."
"Thank you," she said, letting out a relieved breath. Then the woman rushed off to get Johnny, leaving Dree to relax. Only she couldn't, because she was pretty sure the man was still outside. But she didn't have long to ponder it, because moments later the woman was back, with a man just shy of thirty. He wore a grey shirt and blue overalls, all of which, including himself, were covered in grease. Something about the two of them eased the tension in her.
"Mama says your car broke down. Where abouts might that be?"
"Two miles out, going north on the highway. It's a purple Plymouth Barracuda."
She watched as Johnny's brows rose a bit. Her car wasn't exactly cheap after all. "Alright, I'll go get her and bring her back here, see what's wrong. Might take awhile."
Her smile was small, but there. "Don't worry, I have time."
Of course, she hadn't been planning on it being this long. She found out nearly an hour later that she'd be stuck in town for at least another day. That's what happened when you decided to drive around in a classic. Especially when you couldn't fix her yourself.
A glance out the front door told her, surprisingly, that the man wasn't still there. Trying not to wonder about it, she shifted the bag on her shoulder and started out. It looked like she'd be going back to the cheap motel. Sully trotted at her side, her ever present companion. The motel was on the other side of the parish, but she truly didn't mind the walk.
When she finally arrived at the motel, she had the unpleasant surprise of seeing the black Chevy sitting in the parking lot. Giving in, she pulled her hair, wondering what she'd done recently that would give the gods reason to do this to her. Knowing that question would never be answered, she went to the little office, thankful that neither of the men were there. Only the young woman from the night before. Getting the same room, Dree decided that she would simply have to avoid them for the next day. It couldn't be that hard… could it?
As Sam slept in the other bed, Dean lay there staring at the ceiling. He didn't understand what it was about the woman that made him think about her. Closing his eyes, he tried to will himself to sleep. God knew he was tired enough.
He must have dozed off, because the next thing he knew Sam was waking him up. "C'mon Dean, you've been sleeping long enough."
"Time's it?" he mumbled, keeping his eyes closed.
Sam looked at his watch. "About five o'clock."
"In the morning?"
"No, at night. Jeez Dean, and you say I'm bad."
It took another moment, but then the day came flooding back to him. He rubbed his face as he tried to wake up. He was surprised he'd slept so deeply. But then again, he'd definitely needed it. The past few days he'd mostly been running on coffee. Which his nose finally caught the scent of as he opened his eyes. He sat up and held out his hand. Sam automatically passed over one of the cups he held. After the first sip Dean felt a bit more human. "Got any food to go with this?"
Sam shook his head. "No, I figured you'd wanna go hit the local bar. But if you want I could go grab something from the diner."
"No, you're right. The bar sounds better. Just let me catch a shower quick."
Twenty minutes later they were walking into Hal's Tavern. It nearly depressed him how much it looked like half the other red neck bars he'd been in. Ignoring the tables, he went right to the bar and ordered a couple beers and sandwiches. Sam, of course, had a few newspapers, so he found a table that suited him and began paging through, looking for the next hunt.
Leaning against the bar, Dean looked around to see if there were any prospects of fun for the night. The woman getting their beers seemed to be sending him a few significant glances, and he spotted a couple girls at the end of the bar who looked interesting. He widened his search, finally seeing her sitting at a table in the darkest corner. A brief survey of her confirmed his earlier rundown. Definitely a loner, even more so than him or Sam. She had a journal out in front of her, and half a sandwich pushed off to the side. As he watched she paused to take a sip from her glass of water. Shaking his head he had to wonder why anyone would come to a bar if they weren't going to drink.
Taking the beers that were just set in front of him, he first went over to Sam. "Find anything yet?" he asked and set down one of the beers.
"No, looks like the wolves have been scaring off things around here."
"Alright. I'll be around." Then he walked over to the witch. She tensed as he sat down across from her. "Miss me?"
She looked up, her eyes flashing in annoyance. "Not really. I was actually hoping you'd been eaten by a gator." She didn't bother to close her journal. Instead she set down her pen and picked up her water again.
His lips twitched. "Cute. Sorry to disappoint you." He took a quick glance at what she'd been writing, and then had to look again when all he saw was gibberish.
Dree smiled at the frown that formed on his face. She'd known he'd be too nosy to resist. "Problem?"
"What the hell is that?" They weren't even letters. It was all written in symbols.
She finally closed it then. "Unlike many, I choose not to make it easy for others to read important information." She tucked it away in the bag at her feet.
"Huh." It actually did make sense. "So, is it a diary journal or a Book of Shadows?"
"What's the difference to you?"
He took a sip of beer. "Well, a diary would be interesting, and so worth the time it takes to figure out your little code thing. A Book of Shadows would just be more gibberish to me."
"Ah." She said it like she cared, but she really didn't.
"Alright, I have to ask. What's with the water? Beer too strong for you?"
Her eyes darkened to nearly black as they narrowed. "In case you hadn't noticed before, I'm Irish. No spirit is too strong for me."
He grinned, happy to hit a nerve. "Then why aren't you drinking?"
"Because American beer tastes like piss," she said simply, and was amused when he nearly choked on the sip he'd just taken.
It took him a moment to finish swallowing and not gag. "You know what I think?"
She rolled her eyes. "I really don't care."
"I don't think you can take it," he continued. "You speak like an American, so you probably drink like an American female."
She couldn't believe he'd gone there. Incensed, she stood, stalked over to the bar, and ordered a double whiskey. When it was served she threw it back, drinking it faster than she had the water. Then she slammed it down, threw a bill on the counter, and stalked back over to Dean. "Happy?"
He was grinning again. "Yep."
"Cad," she called him. Then couldn't help but smile as well.
Again, thoughts or suggestions. Not sure when the next chapter will be up. Probably in the next few days.