Keep Your Head Up

23. Simon Said

Sam gasped, leaning over the sink in a dingy bathroom with the water running. He'd just seen a man ask for a gun, then shoot himself.

"No..." Sam said, running a hand under the water. He washed his face and scrubbed the hand through his hair. As he shut the water off and looked into the mirror, the door burst open to reveal Dean and Mae.

"Sam, come on, zip it up," Dean said. "Let's hit the... road. What?"

Sam was breathing heavily and blinking.

---

Dean drove the Impala down a dark two-lane road. Sam was in the passenger's seat and Mae was in back.

The radio announcer said, "Rockin' Nebraska. Your source for the classics, all night long."

"I don't know, man, why don't we just chill out, think about this."

Sam shut off the radio. "What's there to think about?"

"I just don't know if going to the Roadhouse is the smartest idea."

"Dean, it's another premonition. I know it. This is gonna happen, and Ash can tell us where."

"Yeah, man, but..." He glanced back at a sleeping Mae.

"Plus it could have some connection with the demon. My visions always do."

"That's my point. There's gonna be hunters there, I don't know if, if, if going in and announcing that you're some supernatural freak with a, a demonic connection is the best thing, okay?"

"So I'm a freak now?"

Dean slapped Sam on the thigh. "You've always been a freak."

---

They reached the Roadhouse and entered the Roadhouse, passing two men at a table cleaning weapons. One glanced at Mae's backside and Dean glared as he moved behind his wife.

Dean almost ran into Jo, who stopped, smiling.

"Just can't stay away, huh?" Jo asked.

"Yeah, looks like," Dean replied. "How you doin', Jo?"

"Where's Ash?" Sam questioned hurriedly.

"In his back room," Jo answered.

Sam brushed past her. "Great."

"And I'm fine..."

"Sorry, he's, we're... kind of on a bit of a timetable," Dean said.

Mae nodded. "A really big one."

Sam approached a rough wooden door with a sign hanging on it that read: DR. BADASS IS: IN.

Sam knocked on the door. "Ash? Hey, Ash?"

Dean and Mae were also knocking. "Hey, Dr. Badass?"

The door was unlatched and opened a crack to reveal a naked Ash. Dean averted his eyes and Mae glanced up at the ceiling.

Ash poked his head out. "Sam? Dean? Mae? Sam, Dean and Mae."

"Hey, Ash," Sam greeted. "Um. We need your help."

"Well, hell then. Guess I need my pants." He shut the door.

The trio returned to the main area of the Roadhouse and Ash soon joined.

Ash was sitting at a table with his laptop open, looking at the hand-drawn sketch of the bus logo from Sam's vision. Sam sat across from him while Dean and Mae stood behind.

"Well, I got a match," Ash said. "It's the logo from the Blue Ridge bus lines in Guthrie, Oklahoma."

"Okay," Sam replied. "Do me a favor - check Guthrie for any demonic signs, or omens, or anything like that."