Comfort Crowd Δ SPN [ 1 ]

017. ROUTE 666

Sam is standing by the Impala, looking at a map he has laid out on top of the car. Ophelia and Libby are in the backseat, watching The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Dean is by the driver's door with his phone to his ear.

"Okay. I think I found a way we can bypass that construction just east of here. We might even make Pennsylvania faster than we thought." Sam says.

"Yeah. Problem is, we're not going to Pennsylvania." Dean says, putting his phone up.

"We what?" Sam asks.

"I just got a call from an, uh, old friend. Her father was killed last think, think it might be our kind of thing." Dean says.

"What?" Sam asks.

"Yeah. Believe me, she never woulda called -- never -- if she didn't need us." Dean says. "Come on, are you coming or not?" He asks, getting in the car.

~ ~ ~

Dean is driving towards their destination.

"By old friend you mean...?" Sam trails off.

"A friend that's not new." Dean says.

"Oh yeah, thanks." Sam lightly rolls his eyes. He looks back, making sure the girls have headphones in. "So her name's Cassie, huh? You never mentioned her."

"Didn't I?" Dean asks. Sam stares at Dean expectantly. "Yeah, we went out."

"You mean you dated somebody? For more than one night?" Sam asks.

"Hey, her mom got two nights." Dean says, nodding back towards Ophelia and Sam roll his eyes. " And am I speaking a language you're not getting here? Dad and I were working a job in Ohio, she was finishing up college. We went out for a coupla weeks."

"And...?" Sam asks and Dean just shrugs. "Look, it's terrible about her dad, but it kinda sounds like a stranded car accident. I'm not seeing how it fits with what we do. Which by the way, how does she know what we do?"

Dean doesn't say anything.

"You told her. You told her the secret! Our big family rule number one. We do what we do and we shut up about it. For, like, almost four years, I do nothing but lie to Jessica, and you go out with this chick in Ohio a couple of times and you tell her everything?" Sam asks, anger overcoming him.

"Dean!" Sam calls after he doesn't respond.

"Yeah. Looks like." Dean snaps. Sam glares at him, shaking his head.

+++

They walk into a newspaper office, Libby in Sam's arms. There's a woman talking to a man and after the man walks away, the woman turns in their direction, stopping at the sight of them.

"Dean." The woman.

"Hey, Cassie." Dean greets. They stare at each other for a long moment as Ophelia looks between them confused. She doesn't see Sam having a small smile as he also watches the two adults.

Cassie sends a smile to the other three Winchesters, Sam returning a smile to her.

"Sorry about your dad." Dean tells her.

"Yeah. Me too." Cassie sadly smiles.

"Why are you guys just staring at each other?" Ophelia asks. Sam quietly laughs as Cassie lets out a small chuckle.

"You got bigger, Ophelia." Cassie says.

"You know me?" Ophelia asks.

"Yeah. You were a bit shorter last I saw you." Cassie smiles, remembering the toddler that Ophelia used to be.