Strange Relations

Chapter 6

Dean was perched on the end of his bed, eyes glued to the TV. "We need to figure out what we're dealing with," he told Sam and Dale, who were seated side by side at the little table.

Dale shrugged as she picked apart her muffin, she didn't really like pumpkin but it was either pumpkin or bran and who wants that sort of unhappiness in their life? She glanced sidelong at Sam as he took a huge bite out of his bran muffin. Oh, right, the healthy people.

She twisted around to look at Dean. "How do we do that? I doubt Mrs. Henley would look kindly on us if we told her we needed to interrogate her cat and threw salt at the thing."

Dean popped the last bite of his blueberry muffin in his mouth—grimaced as he chewed—and then looked over at her. "You already have an established relationship with the cat so you should be the one to go back and grab the little furball and haul him back here for questioning."

"An established relationship? And by that you mean I talked to him for all of two minutes and he called me fat."

As he stood, Dean shrugged. "Just take Baby and go fetch him." He tossed her the keys and she snatched them out of the air just before they smacked her in the face.

"How exactly do I catch an evil talking cat?"

Sam leaned down and lifted one of the plastic shopping bags beside his feet from the floor and rummaged through it. "Tuna." He brandished a can. "Mrs. Henley did say he loves his tuna and we haven't established he's evil, just that he talks."

She glanced at the cans of tuna. "Seriously, I have to bait a cat trap? I can't believe the two of you think this is going to be easy, you didn't talk to the snarky little fluffball, he's smart." She pointed at the can. "When exactly did you buy tuna and why?"

Sam shrugged. "I like tuna. It's healthy."

"Just snatch the cat and toss him in the trunk, there's a demon trap painted on the inside of the trunk, he won't be able to get out," Dean told her.

"We haven't established that he's a demon either," she argued.

"He'll fit with plenty of room. If he's a demon the trap will hold him," Dean told her.

"And if he isn't?" she snapped.

"Then hopefully the trunk will contain him."

With a growl, she snatched up the plastic bag, snatched the can from Sam and shoved the can back into it and stomped out the door. "I can't believe this is what my life has become."

A smile appeared on her face as she glanced down at the keys in her hand. She was finally going to get a chance to drive Dean's baby. That was the only upside to this assignment. When they told her what they did for a living she had visions of learning to hunt werewolves and vampires, instead she was kidnapping a talking cat who was obsessed with tuna.

She drove back to Mrs. Henley's neighborhood and parked several houses away from her target. With a small sigh, she grabbed several cans of tuna, opened one and set it inside the trunk before heading for the house. Her steps came to a stop and she smirked when she spotted Sox jumping from one of the windows on the side of the house. She grabbed the pull tab on one of the cans of tuna and yanked it open as the cat headed in her direction.

He paused, nose in the air before trotting daintily in her direction, he stopped and sat primly before her, tail wrapped around his paws, end flicking lazily. "I do hope that's for me."

"Yes, if you answer a few questions." She waved the can in front of him.

The cat dipped his head in agreement and she placed the can on the ground in front of him.