I'm Not Strong Enough to Stay Away

“So you found the body?” Ella asked the woman, using her business voice. The woman nodded, her head in her hands. “And will ya describe what ya saw?”

“But… but I’ve already told the Feds,” the woman replied, sniffling. “Two of you guys came by earlier today; why do I need to tell you again?” Ella and I shared a knowing look. That meant there were other hunters here, investigating the same case. Normal Feds wouldn’t investigate a case like this, not this early on, anyway.

“We like to go back sometimes and re-check the information,” I told the woman gently. “Just to make sure we’ve got our facts straight.”

She nodded slightly and took a deep breath. “Okay, well, I came home from working the night shift at the hospital and I walked in here and there she was, just… just laying there. Her throat was slit open and she was still… gurgling.”

Ella made a face and I shook my head sadly. “We’re sorry for your loss. We’ll find out who did this as soon as possible,” I told the woman, placing my hand reassuringly on her shoulder.

As we exited the apartment building, Ella said, “Spirit?”

“Definitely.” I nodded in agreement, getting into the car.

“Yay, research,” she said dejectedly.

“Yeah, like you do any of it,” I retorted, pulling my laptop out of its case. “Man, I hope our hotel has Wi-Fi.”

“Hey, um, Gari?” Ella said slowly.

“Yes, you can go to the bar down the street while I research,” I said, instantly knowing what she was going to ask. “But you’re leaving the car at the hotel. You can walk to the bar; it won’t take but like five minutes.”

“Yay, you’re awesome!” Ella cheered, pulling into the motel parking lot.

“I’m aware,” I replied, getting out of the car. “Got the room key?” She pulled it out of her pocket and handed it to me, then I unlocked the door and went inside, taking a seat at the table.

Ella took the elastic out of her hair and shook out her strawberry blonde curls. She pulled a tube of lip-gloss out of her pocket and smeared it on her lips, puckering them at me and giggling. Taking off her jacket, she said, “Don’t be too long! Come have fun!”

“I’ll try my best.” I told her as I powered up my laptop.

“I’ll find a guy for ya!” Ella said excitedly.

“Get outta here, hot stuff!” I said, rolling my eyes, and she laughed and left the room. I brought up a search engine and typed in the name of the apartment complex, searching for anything of importance.

~Supernatural~Supernatural~Supernatural~

I walked into the bar, looking around for Ella. I finally spotted her sitting up at the bar with one of the best-looking guys I had ever seen. He had short, blonde-brown hair and the face of a male model. The corners of his full lips were currently turned up in a slight smirk.

“Damn,” I muttered under my breath in awe. At that moment, Ella turned and saw me, then started waving enthusiastically. I waved back half-heartedly, then found a table not too far from the bar so I could keep an eye on her. I didn’t feel like conning some poor guy out of his money today; despite everything, I was still dwelling on my nightmare.

“It’s annoying, isn’t it?” a deep, soft voice said, making me jump. I looked up to see the most amazing guy in the world, no, the universe. He had shaggy brown hair that hung down into his eyes, soft hazel eyes that I could picture myself getting lost in, and his thin lips were curved in an engaging smile. He seemed nervous, somehow, like he wasn’t used to just going up and talking to strangers. I couldn’t imagine why—I would’ve thought girls would hit on him all the time. He was just so dreamy. 'Okay, stop with the love-struck teenager thing, Gari. “Dreamy” should not be a part of your vocabulary.'

“Um, what is?” I asked stupidly, my mind going totally blank.

“Being the responsible one.” He glanced to where Ella and her boy toy were sitting and rolled his eyes.

“Friend of yours?” I asked, and he nodded.

“My brother.” He pulled out a chair at my table and sat down across from me. “I’m Sam, by the way,” he said, smiling slightly.

“Garideth,” I replied, smiling back at him. “But you can call me Gari.”

“Interesting name,” Sam said, raising his eyebrows, a normal response.
“Yeah, I know. Dunno how my mother came up with it.” I shrugged. “But, hey, as far as I know, no one else has it."

“I’ll bet,” Sam chuckled. “So what brought you to town?”

“Road trip,” I said automatically. “My friend and I are touring the beautiful US.” I couldn’t help but roll my eyes a little. Sam noticed and gave me a questioning look. “I’m a bit of an anarchist,” I explained, “and a conspiracy theorist and an atheist and pretty much anything else like that.” 'And why am I so talkative?'

He nodded in understanding and said, “Join the club.”

I smiled and glanced up at the bar. Ella was laughing much too loud. She was definitely drunk. “Damn, that girl cannot handle alcohol,” I muttered, shaking my head.

“Yeah, I noticed that,” Sam agreed, giving me a lopsided grin that exposed all of his teeth, which stood out brilliantly white against his tan skin. My heart gave a weird little flutter in my chest. 'Okay, not cool.'

Just then, Ella and Sam’s brother walked over to us, Ella leaning heavily against him and giggling drunkenly. “See you found some entertainment, too, Sammy!” Sam’s brother said. “Atta boy!”

I huffed indignantly and almost rose to my feet, but Sam shot me an apologetic look and rolled his eyes conspiratorially, so I kept my seat. “Dean, seriously?” he said exasperatedly and a bit embarrassedly.

“Wait, your name’s Dean?” I asked Sam’s brother as the names clicked. “As in, Winchester?” 'So these are the other hunters.'

“Dude, how’s everyone know about us but we don’t know anyone?” Dean complained. “I mean, c’mon!” Sam shrugged, unconcerned.

“Hey, Gari, guess what?” Ella said suddenly, slurring her words. “I had Sex on the Beach! It was delicious!”

“I’m sure,” I said flatly. “C’mon, Elle, we’re going back to the motel.” I stood up then and noticed with a shock just how tall Sam was. 'He has to be six-foot-four at least! Whoa. That’s kinda perfect. What am I thinking? He’s a Winchester!' I placed Ella’s arm around my neck and wrapped my arm securely around her waist to support her.

“But I’m not drunk!” she protested.

“Methinks the lady doth protest too much,” Dean mumbled, and I shot him a weird look, which he responded to with a sexy little smirk.

“I never said you were, babe,” I told Ella, making my tone as gentle as I could manage. “But we need to go. We’ve got work to do tomorrow.”

Ella sighed deeply. “’Kay…”

“You need help getting her to your car?” Sam volunteered kindly.

“Thanks, but nah, we walked from our motel,” I replied. “It’s the Blue Jay, right down the street.”

“We’re there, too,” he said, and Dean shot him a reproachful look. “We’ll help. It’s no problem, really.”

“No problem for you,” Dean muttered, but he followed me out of the bar, anyway.

“I can walk on my own!” Ella said loudly, pulling away from me so forcefully that she lost her balance. Dean caught her with an irritated sigh.

“Thanks,” I said gratefully, reaching for her.

“I got her,” he said, softening his tone.

“Thanks…” I repeated. I was startled by how gentle he was all of a sudden.

We walked together in silence for a while, with Ella occasionally tripping and laughing at herself.

Finally, Dean swept his arm behind her knees and picked her up bridal-style. She shrieked as her feet left the ground, then started hitting Dean’s shoulder and yelling, “Put me down, put me down!”
“Shhh,” Dean said, and she stopped fighting him immediately, staring up at him with wide, watery eyes. She was quiet from that moment on.

I held the door to our room open for Dean and he walked in, then laid Ella down gently on the bed. “Thanks,” I told him. “Again.”

He gave a noncommittal grunt, then said, “The case. What d’you have so far?”

“Oh, so we’re working together, are we?” I teased, but he just stared at me steadily. “Okay…” I said awkwardly. “The first owner of the apartment complex had his throat slit by his wife, who wanted his money,” I recited. “So I’m guessing his spirit came back for revenge and now he’s slitting the throats of any money-hungry girl in the apartment.”

“That what you found?” Dean asked Sam, who nodded.

“Pretty much,” he replied.

“Okay, so are we working together or not?” I asked expectantly. “I’m still not clear on that.” Sam and Dean shared a look, Dean clearly reluctant to work with anyone besides his brother. “Dude, if it’s such a big deal to you, take the job,” I said, slightly irked. “We’ll find another, somewhere far, far away where we won’t run into you again anytime soon.” I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, like I always did when annoyed or stubborn or angry or…. Well, you get the idea. “’Cause obviously you need some kind of purpose in your life, you and your father both.”

Dean looked as if he was about to say something, then as my comment about his father was spoken, his eyes narrowed furiously and his full lips pressed into an angry line. I realized then that I had royally fucked up. I glanced at Sam, expecting the same reaction, but was surprised and confused to see only a slightly curious expression on his face. “Just, whatever, okay?” I continued hurriedly. “You guys take the job. We’ll leave tomorrow. Forget about us. And Dean, anger management helps. Now will you get out?”

Dean muttered something under his breath, then nodded once and stormed out. Sam followed behind, saying, “Nice meeting you,” with a slightly sarcastic tone as he shut the door behind him.

I exhaled deeply and fell back on the bed beside Ella’s sleeping form. She instantly threw her arm and leg on top of me, making it impossible for me to get up. “Oh, well,” I said to myself, then closed my eyes and went to sleep, erasing the meeting with the Winchesters from my mind.