A Supernatural Experience

Chapter 12

Dean woke first, his eyes popped open without hesitation and he was up and ready for the day. He jumped in the shower and watched the water circle the drain as the heat penetrated his muscles, energizing him for the hours to come, whatever those hours would contain.

He threw on his clothes and tied his boots, slipped his flannel shirt unbuttoned over a black t-shirt and closed the door behind him. He noticed Sammy's door was still shut, which was a little unusual but sometimes the kid worked until first light and sleeping in once in a while wouldn't hurt him. He peeked in just a hair to find Sammy face-down into his pillow, his blankets twisted up on his bed revealing the small black shorts he slept in. Dean wondered if he had had a hard time sleeping but shrugged it off as Sammy clearly wasn't having tough luck at the moment.

Dean's next pause was to the woman's room, where he instantly remembered he and Sammy had a wager on what name she would pick between the two the boys were to offer her, and he smiled. The crack in the door was enough that Dean could see the woman sitting on her bed, struggling to pull a brush through her hair. Dean looked back into the hallway before rapping on the door softly, catching her attention.

"All good here?" Dean asked her, walking into her room and closing the door over behind him. The woman's eyes lit up when she saw him.

"I slept pretty well, actually," she said. "But every morning my hair gets so tangled. I can't wait until I get the necklace back. Then I can just breeze through life without these pesky problems. Can you give me a hand?" She asked Dean, holding out the brush in her hand. Dean looked nervously at the door before taking the brush from her.

"Alright, but no running off and telling my brother, deal?" Dean stared into her eyes until the woman nodded in agreement, chuckling at the silly sibling squabbles.

It only took Dean about fifteen minutes to sort out her hair while she sat, as with Sam, stone still. It probably would have only taken about ten, but each time Dean caught a particularly nasty snarl, he would stop and ask if she was ok; resuming only when she nodded her reassurance that she was fine.

Afterwards, the woman sat and braided her hair down past her knees, using a strip of her old rags to tie it at the end. When she was finished, she looked back at Dean.

"Remember our deal," he said, shaking a finger at her playfully.

"Not a word to your brother," She recited back to him, her smile lighting up her face as he left the room. The woman pulled on the pants she had tossed to the floor the night before and tied Sam's shirt around her waist, thinking to ask Sam for another shirt when he wakes up. Dean noticed she was following him and he stopped as he looked at her outfit.

"We didn't give you any other clothes?" he asked, rolling his eyes when she shook her head no. He held up a finger and walked back to his own room where he grabbed the first shirt that was clean and brought it back out to her.

"Thank you," she whispered to Dean, her smile full and her eyes bright with gratitude. She spun back to her room and quickly changed shirts, leaving Sam's on the bed. When she came back out to meet Dean in the lobby, she noticed Castiel standing at the foot of the table.

"... Have to divide and conquer, Dean. There's no other way."

"What's going on?" the woman asked, walking until she stood beside the angel. He looked down into her eyes for a moment before answering.

"Crowley has had two confirmed reports of the demon holding your necklace. It seems he is trying to get rid of it before he is found, and we need to split up to catch him in either place."