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the life and love of lainey legaré (part three)

fandom: supernatural

pairing: dean winchester x original female character

rating: teen

word count: 10.5k

summary: lainey's life is stagnating around her. so what is she supposed to do when the winchesters roll back into her life needing her help. but as always, when it comes down to her life nothings a straight forward as it should be.

tags/warnings: friends to lovers, slow burn, established history, starts at season two, death, love, angst, more tags to come

notes: they’re both gonna be idiots for a while btw edits done 21.03

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link to masterpost ❀ link to ao3 ❀ request a tag ❀ previous chapter ❀ next chapter

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Early September 2006

Dean awoke suddenly, the bang of the bathroom door hitting the wall and startling him from sleep. But there was no point in raising his head from the pillow. He knew it was just Sam from the sound of brushing teeth moving around the room and the smell of motel soap that wafted past him as he grabbed something from the nightstand between them. No, Dean knew there was no threat and so he tried to force himself back to sleep, hoping that if he kept his eyes closed and tried not to listen to Sam going through the motions of the morning he’d drift back off. He could feel the weariness deep in his bones, never quite leaving him these days no matter how many hours he managed to steal. He hadn’t slept well for weeks at least not until he had to get up again which seemed to be the only time his body truly relaxed even shrouded by scratchy sheets and a questionable stained mattress.

But now he was up and his attempts not to be seemed as fruitless as always and so he huffed, rolling onto his back as he opened his eyes. Sam had disappeared back into the bathroom to rinse and spit so he took a minute, his eyes roving over the patterned ceiling above, trying to figure out if it was by design or simply water stained.

‘You’re up,’ Sam said as he reappeared, showered and fresh in comparison to Dean’s stale form.

‘Only just,’ Dean grumbled as he stretched, forcing out whatever slumber remained in his body.

‘Be grateful,’ Sam said, sitting down on his bed to put his socks on, ‘Lainey’s hairdryer woke me up an hour ago.’

‘Why do you think I made her get her own room?’ Dean yawned as a knock echoed on the door.

As Sam went to answer it Dean turned his focus to the TV. It was early morning so the only things available to watch was the news or cartoons, the latter of which Dean settled on as he was determined not to depress himself before he’d at least had some coffee. Something that Lainey appeared with a moment later, coming through the door Sam had opened and looking remarkedly perky for someone who had no doubt been up for hours.

‘Mornin’,’ she said, watching him as she placed her offerings on the table. Given she and Sam had exchanged pleasantries at the door he apparently didn’t feel any guilt in immediately taking a seat and rifling through the bags like a sniffer dog to see what she’d brought. And she didn’t see any need to stop him, her eyes landing on Dean still in bed, hair mussed and cartoons on.

‘Are you only just waking up?’ she said in a tone that matched a mother looking at her teenage son.

‘Only just, Lainey it’s…seven am,’ Dean said scrambling to find his watch on the bedside table as though that would prove his point.

‘Lucky I brought breakfast then isn’t it,’ she asked, sitting down opposite Sam and taking her coffee. Dean grumbled but nevertheless got out of bed and joined them, his stomach growling as the scent of fried everything hit him. He pulled out a box from the bag, barely stopping to register what was what and just presuming it was his due to the sheen of artery-clogging grease that coated everything inside. He was already mid mouthful when Lainey offered him his coffee, taking her own spoils from the bag a moment after.

As Dean barrelled through his bacon, leaving little room for breathing, and Sam ate his pancakes, Lainey nibbled on a doughnut and watched them both. It was funny observing them. It was as though she’d stepped back in time to when they were kids, their personalities still so clear despite a good decade of time passing. They just fit together, like a well-oiled machine. There was no need for conversation. No need to fill the silence just because. They could converse without speaking, as they were doing now, Sam’s disgust at his brother’s egregiously ungraceful chewing met by an eye roll before they both went back to their breakfasts, a point made without forcing change.

And Lainey, well she was still finding her feet. Trying to find her part in that well-oiled machine. Because they may have felt the same but for some reason she felt different, out of place even. Sure she could still keep up with them. She was used to the crass jokes Dean made and she knew to keep a fast pace when walking with Sam, who didn’t seem to realise for every one step he took she took two. But she was still trying to find her place between them.

When she’d been a kid it’d been easier. Her dad had spent years trying to squeeze the girl out of her, crafting another son rather than a weak and needy daughter. She was a tomboy, swathed in Sam and Dean’s hand me downs and all her angst and spunk leant itself to the emo, grunge vibe Sam had going as a teen. They’d flocked together. Two moody kids joining forces to hate the world and anyone who tried to control them like John or in his absence, Dean. But now, now she was different. She no longer hid herself; she hadn’t done for a while. And for some reason that made her exposed. Maybe it was because her and Dean had hunted together before and he’d gotten used to her as she was now whilst Sam was still catching up. Yet it didn’t feel like it was just that. Sure they laughed and joked and talked about trivial stuff but that was usually only when he got her alone. Any other time she felt as though he was holding back. Like now Sam was here he felt self-conscious. She wondered if he were worried she would bring up their time together, reminding Sam how he’d left and how Dean had needed a friend in the aftermath. She wondered if he just didn’t know how to act around her given how it had ended.

Whatever it was she hoped he’d get over it soon. Maybe then she could stop trying so hard to fit in, to prove herself useful, like she was now as she announced, ‘I got us a case by the way.’

‘Yeah?’ Sam asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

‘Yeah,’ she said producing a newspaper from her bag and handing it over to him. With that Dean finally came up for air, swapping his fork for his coffee cup, his mouth still full so that his words were garbled as he asked, ‘what is it?’

‘Lake Havasu, Arizona. Three drownings in a week,’ Lainey said.

‘So, everyone in town forgot how to swim. Is it really our problem?’ Dean asked in the combative way she’d grown accustomed to over the past couple of weeks.

‘Well it would be if they’d all drowned in the lake as expected but only one of them was found on the shore,’ she said.

‘Where were the others found?’ Sam asked.

‘One woman was found in a pool in her back yard and the last victim, a hot tub at a spa she was visiting,’ Lainey explained, pointing Sam to the article she’d read.

‘Sounds like it could be our sort of thing,’ Sam agreed.

‘Sounds like it’s a long drive for something that could just be three accidents,’ Dean said. Lainey held in a comment about how she’d seen him drive over twenty hours after a horrendous hunt for a piece of pie once and merely said, ‘and if it’s not?’

‘Lainey’s right,’ Sam said, looking at his brother, ‘come on it’s worth checking out. We’ll split the drive.’

‘Like I’d let you touch my baby,’ Dean scoffed and with that he got up and headed into the bathroom without another word.

As Sam started to tidy away their breakfast, shoving cartons and wrappers back into the grease sodden bags, Lainey sat there, uncertain enough to asked, ‘so we’re going?’

Sam sighed, ‘looks like.’

‘I guess I’ll go and pack,’ she said, rising from her chair. She could hear the shower on now, the gentle thuds as Dean moved around in the bathroom, evidently irritated judging by the amount of noise he was making. Sam nodded, watching her as she headed to the door before he cleared his throat, making her pause with her hand on the handle, ‘don’t take it personally. He’s just tired I think.’

‘Yeah, sure,’ she said, disappearing back to her room a touch dejected.

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Dean was right. The drive was long and warm. Summer may have been over back home in North Dakota, but the sun still shined in the Arizona, the dry, arid heat settling into Lainey’s lungs and making her throat itch. There was no character here. Just expanses of desert brush interspersed by houses that could’ve been pumped out on a conveyor belt. The only bit of town that looked like it had any personality was the marina though she’d argue that was more to do with money than soul. And this ordeal had only meant Dean’s mood soured further. He didn’t even crack a smile when he found out the motel had a magic fingers or when the waitress at the diner had written her number on the bottom of their bill with a heart. So she was happy to split up, the task of speaking to the victim’s families split nicely between the three of them.

And on arrival Lainey figured she’d gotten the sweeter end of the deal. Her victim was new to the area, looking to buy and staying in the Desert Springs Hotel and Spa, an upmarket, rustic stone sanctuary that put their run down, fetid motel to shame. But that meant no one really knew her. They couldn’t give much information when it came down to it though she garnered that no one had heard, smelt or seen anything unusual until Ms Casey was floating face down in the jacuzzi pool. So, without much to go on she trudged to the diner they’d agreed to meet hoping that the boys would have something more.

They had already arrived when she got there, tucked away in the back of the shop in one of the only remaining booths. Lainey took a seat beside Sam, discretely scanning the place and noting the exits as she always did. It seemed passable, a basic mom and pop shop but not the worst place she’d ever dined. There had even been an attempt at bringing the place up market, plastic seating replaced with solid wood everything, but the carpet was stained and the plaster cracked in places that refused to hold the paint that had been thrown on it as a disguise. Still, in the long list of places they’d ever visited it didn’t even make the bottom hundred, let alone the bottom ten and so when the waitress, dressed in shorts and a Margaritaville tank top, asked for her order Lainey offered it to her with a smile and a thank you, the thick leather-bound menu sticky in her hands as she passed them back.

‘So,’ Sam said once the woman was far enough out of earshot, ‘what did you find?’

‘Not much,’ Lainey sighed, grabbing a couple of sweet n lo’s in anticipation of her coffee.

‘Yeah we’re about the same. No cold spots, no EMF, nothing weird before or after the accidents,’ Sam said, a frown pulling his brow into a crease.

‘So what do we think? Ghost maybe?’ Lainey asked, pausing as the waitress returned with their drinks, her care and attention lingering on Dean as she placed his cup down last, a smile on her lips as their hands touched. Dean smiled politely but moved his hand away quick, looking away from her which made her smile dim before she flitted back to the counter in a huff.

‘Maybe, this really is just a couple of unfortunate drownings,’ he said, taking a sip.

‘Oh come on who drowns in a hot tub?’ Lainey challenged.

‘There’s got to be a few,’ Dean argued.

‘Okay who drowns in a hot tub when there’s absolutely nothing wrong with them? No one said she felt unwell or was acting weird. The EMTs couldn’t even find a reason for her not being able to get herself out of the pool, it was like a few feet deep at most and she was fine. There’s gotta be more too it,’ Lainey said firmly.

‘Lainey’s right. There’s gotta be another reason for it, maybe it’s a ghost or some demon getting its rocks off by drowning people. It wouldn’t be out there to think,’ Sam agreed, making his brother scowl. He only stopped when their waitress, Kimberly as decreed by her name badge, reappeared, three plates in hand. Dean smiled at her now, but she refused to look at him, throwing the plates down and leaving without checking they’d gotten to their rightful owner.

‘She’s cheery,’ Dean said as he swapped his plate for Lainey’s, a burger becoming a club sandwich before her eyes. He took a bite, chewing roughly before he said, ‘fine, we’ll go to the morgue after this and see what the bodies have to say. If there’s nothing that can explain how they all croaked it in a couple of inches of water we’ll stay.’

Lainey said nothing after that, using the excuse of her sandwich being as dry as the desert outside therefore requiring an awful amount of chewing as a reason for her lack of input. Neither of them seemed to notice and instead kept talking about what they’d learnt at their respective victims’ homes. Sam’s woman had been a lady in her sixties, a real estate agent verging on the edge of retirement once she’d completed this big development in the area. She’d been found by her husband, face down in their bathtub in their home for forty years. Dean’s woman had been found down by the lake, washed ashore with hardly a mark on her. Her sister didn’t even know why she’d been down there given that she had no reason to be. She hated swimming and fishing. She didn’t even run or jog, like some of the locals did enjoying the view of the marina. She was too busy for that, the pair of them co-owning a business that left them little time for anything else by all accounts.

Lainey just listened. Sure there was nothing that linked them together. They were all of different ages and backgrounds and her lady didn’t even come from the area. Yet she was sure, despite Dean’s scepticism, that there was something supernatural going on here. And she hoped that once he had a full stomach he’d be more agreeable to the idea.

Once they’d paid up they headed outside with Lainey bringing up the rear, still reluctant to join in though seeing her car sparked an idea in her she just had to voice, ‘you know I passed the morgue on the way here. It’s past our motel, how about I ditch my car there and we go in one?’

‘Actually I think you should go to the library. Me and Sam will go to the morgue,’ Dean said, not even looking up as he unlocked the car door. Sam hesitated in the doorway of the impala, sensing an argument brewing as Lainey’s face fell into a scowl.

‘And given that we’ve got nothing to go on so far, what exactly am I supposed to research?’ she asked irritably.

‘You’ll figure it out,’ Dean said condescendingly, ‘besides we can’t all go to the morgue.’

‘Why not?’ Lainey bit.

‘It’s too conspicuous,’ Dean said. He could feel Sam’s eyes on him, suspicion gracing his face as Dean kept his eyes locked on Lainey. She was going to challenge him, he could see in her face that she was getting herself locked and loaded for a fight, but she deflated as Sam said, ‘how about you two go? I could do with getting out of this suit. The library’s probably cooler anyway.’

And with that the discussion was final. Sam held his hand out for her keys, allowing them to be dropped in his hands as she continued to glare at Dean who pretended not to see, climbing into the impala with a slam of the driver’s side door. Sam headed to her truck, watching with amusement as she climbed in the passenger seat with the same demeanour, the car screeching out of the lot a moment later. All of sudden hours of mindless research didn’t seem so bad.

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Lainey was starting to hate this case. Sure the trip to the morgue had proven her point about something nefarious going on in this town seeing as the victims were all the picture of health when they drowned. And she had noticed that all the women had a similar shaped bruise, though they all varied in size and location and predated their death, so the coroner had dismissed it. But the longer it went on the more Dean’s moods were giving her whiplash. She didn’t know what she’d done or what his problem was but the second they stepped out of the car after a tense ride to the morgue he seemed to change. They worked as a team, their questions complimenting each other and extorting well more than they should’ve gotten from the poor over-run mortuary technician. He was a balding, nervous man who claimed that before the drownings he had a handful of stiffs a week and most of those were weather worn elderly people who’d moved to Arizona in search of warm serenity in their twilight years. It hadn’t been hard for Lainey to coax the reports from him, Dean had even seemed impressed at how her southern charm landed them with copies of every report, a feat he completed whilst saying ‘I really shouldn’t be giving you these,’ over and over as Lainey led him to the copier.

He didn’t even switch back once they were in the car, his demeanour pleasant and chatty as they discussed the case on the way back to Sam. And as they took a seat beside him, eyes casting over the pages of pages of research scattered across the table he’d commandeered at the library she hoped it wouldn’t switch back.

‘You find anything Sammy?’ Dean asked, picking up an old newspaper article that lay in front of him, the headline reading, ‘LOCAL MAN SURVIVES FALL FROM BRIDGE,’ above a picture of a smiling man in what appeared to be a full body cast.

‘Nothing,’ Sam grumbled, ‘no violent deaths or suicides that I could find.’

‘Any drownings?’ Lainey asked, perusing the stack and hoping something might take her eye.

‘A handful in the lake but I cross referenced and every victim was cremated so nothing that screams haunting,’ he said, rubbing his eyes.

‘So we got nothing,’ Dean sighed.

‘So far. Did the morgue bring anything up?’ Sam asked. As Dean started giving Sam the low-down Lainey tuned out, her eyes drifting past his head to the notice board. It was the usual stuff you’d expect to see at a library. Local excursions, adverts for locals trying to flog their used shit, information on late returns and their hefty fines, underlined three times to make a point. But under that something caught her eye.

‘Lainey,’ Dean said, bringing her out of her thoughts. She looked confused and he looked irritated again once he realised that she hadn’t been listening.

‘What?’ she asked.

‘I said if it’s not a ghost or demon what do you think we’re dealing with,’ he replied.

‘I don’t know but I think I might have found a motive,’ she said, getting up from her seat and moving quickly to the notice board. The advert was tacked on with push pins, but she didn’t bother taking them out, she just ripped the flyer down causing tears in the top corners of the vinyl covered paper. Sam and Dean watched as she threw it down on the table, covering Sam’s research.

‘A highway?’ Dean asked looking at the development plan in front of him. A local government proposal that depicted the new and improved Lake Havasu. A freshly developed marina, the central focus of a new housing development spanning masses of coastline and cutting through the lake to link it to a new highway.

‘A highway cutting right through the lake. Weren’t all of our vics linked to real estate around here? My vic was buying, Sam’s was a realtor, Dean’s-’

‘Was heading some big project with her sister,’ he said, picking the paper up to look at it properly.

‘What do you say this was it?’ Lainey asked.

‘I’d say that was motive for a haunting,’ Sam said.

‘Question is how do we find out more about it?’ she asked.

‘I say we go to the only place you ever need to when you need the low down about a town,’ Dean said.

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The bar they ended up at was on the lake. It was a nice establishment, if not a bit on the nose given the wooden interior and nautical nods dotted around the place, but the view was stunning Lainey had to admit. A whole wall was dedicated to windows which looked down on the marina with lights across the bay twinkling against the dark waterfront. Even the bridge looked nice at night, the concrete blocks somehow looking more regal when swathed in warm light and shadow.

She and Sam had situated themselves in the corner, leaving the schmoozing to Dean who was at the bar, chatting amorously with a blonde woman whose hand kept travelling further and further up his arm every time Lainey looked back at them which she did once more, as did Sam and everyone else around them, as the girl cackled a laugh at something Dean had said.

‘Wow,’ Lainey snorted, ‘I never knew he was that funny.’

‘Yeah me either,’ Sam smirked.

‘Well, whatever gets the job done I suppose,’ she said, picking up her drink. It was a fruity little number, hilariously aquatically themed though that had only meant it came with a heap ton of ice and tiny umbrella she’d had to throw out save it poking her in the eye. Still it was sweet and had the added bonus of irritating Dean when she’d forced him to order it for her, which was all she could hope for considering his mood had switched back in the library and he was back to being a dick to her without rhyme or reason. Though it was down to the dregs now, her straw making a slurping sound as it fished through the remainder of the ice. She could’ve got up and gotten another, but she didn’t want to interrupt Dean, not when he was on a roll. Flirt though he was if there was information to be had he’d get it.

When she was sure the last drop was gone she placed her glass on the table, only to find Sam watching her.

‘Sorry,’ she said, wiping at the corners of her mouth with embarrassment.

‘Nah it’s fine,’ he smiled but there was something in his look that lingered, like having the table manners of a six-year-old drinking a milkshake wasn’t what had intrigued him. Lainey sunk into her chair self-consciously. She’d found that Sam had a knack for getting in your head. It was never malicious, but he seemed to know how to dig down, to get you to share when you might not want to.

‘What?’ she asked, feeling a blush on her cheeks. Sam shifted, glancing at Dean as though that would help him phrase whatever it was he wanted to say.

‘Nothing it’s just…it doesn’t bother you?’ he asked.

‘Does what bother me?’ she asked, watching as Sam looked back at Dean. The two of them had gotten closer now, heads mere inches apart as they whispered like teenagers with a secret though she supposed nothing was secret really given the way everyone could see the woman’s hand inching up Dean’s thigh. Lainey watched them and found Sam watching her with a look of sympathy. She scoffed, ‘bother me? Why would it bother me?’

‘Well,’ Sam hesitated, busying himself with his own beer. It was like he’d been expecting something else, as though she was going to offer up some big outpouring of unrequited love at his feet. Where he’d got that from she had no idea. And that’s when panic hit her. Had that been why Dean had been being weird? Had Sam put some ridiculous notion of infatuation in his head?

‘Sam? What have you been saying?’’ she asked angrily.

‘Nothing, nothing,’ he said holding his hands up in protest. Lainey scowled, ‘honestly I just, I just tried talking to him about how he’s been and he shut me down, told me to lay off and that it was none of my business. But that’s what he always says when I ask anything about you two, you know your time hunting together. And he only gets like that when there’s something, well, complicated going on. So I thought maybe you two might have…’

‘Me and Dean? Please,’ she scoffed.

‘Is it that crazy?’ Sam asked.

‘Yes!’ she said.

‘Why?’ ‘Because I’m not a blonde with big tits for one,’ she said, smirking as she added, ‘well I’m not blonde.’

‘Neither was Cassie,’ Sam pressed, ignoring her joke, his face astute and serious. Lainey hesitated. She knew about Cassie, they’d gone out before she and Dean had started hunting together and she’d hurt him. But that was before Sam’s time, and like he said Dean wasn’t one to talk about his feelings no matter who asked.

‘You met Cassie?’ Lainey asked.

‘Yeah, did you?’ Sam replied.

‘No, they um, they’d just sorta ended stuff when we started hunting together,’ she said, watching as Sam’s eyes glinted with insinuation. Lainey huffed, ‘Sam!’

‘I didn’t say anything!’ he laughed.

‘Your damn eyes did the talkin’ for ya,’ she replied. Sam laughed, the sound echoing around the room so that a few heads turned, Dean’s included. Lainey’s eyes met his and she smiled quickly, pulling Sam closer as Dean looked back to his date.

‘You’re crazy you know that?’ she said, shoving him on the arm as he tried to hide his mirth with his hand, the glares of the other patrons forcing him to rein it in.

‘Am I?’ he asked, ‘I mean is it so crazy that you two might. I mean you work together, close quarters and all that. It’s been known to happen with hunters before.’

‘Have you ever watched a western?’ Lainey asked. Sam stopped laughing, the question coming out of the blue but intriguing him. Lainey watched, waiting for him to answer.

‘I think Deans made me watch every single one ever available on pay per view,’ he said.

‘So you know all about those cowboys? They come to town all handsome and good natured, they woo the girl, kill the bad guy, and then guess what? They leave. And that damsel goes right back to being a damn damsel,’ she said. There was no malice to her words, just truth. An honesty he hadn’t expected. He’d thought she’d hit him with some big denial or some outrage that he’d even contemplated it that would only confirm his suspicions that there was something there. But she wasn’t protesting Dean himself. She was protesting Dean in this life, a hunter. She wasn’t exactly saying no, just not like this. At least that’s how it seemed to him.

They fell quite for a moment, her sentiment lingering in the air as she fiddled with her glass again for something to do. Some ice had melted leaving a watery residue at the bottom that she tipped into her mouth to not have to look at him. But when she stopped he was watching her, waiting.

‘So, a cowboy…not the one for you huh?’ Sam asked quietly. Lainey sighed, her eyes unfocused as her mind drifted somewhere he couldn’t see. When she came back she looked sad.

‘My mama spent her whole life waiting for her cowboy,’ she said, leaving the insinuation in the unspoken words. Sam could see her point. When he’d chased his happy ending it had only made things worse, gotten Jessica killed. His mom and dad had lived an apple pie lifestyle, and they’d not made it out. Maybe she was right to be reluctant.

‘I get it. Really I do…but,’ he said after moment. Lainey looked at him apprehensively, ‘what I don’t get is why he’s-’

‘Acting like a totally dick?’ she finished. Sam grinned.

‘Yeah that. I mean if the two of you had some past fling I’d get it but…what did happen?’ he asked.

‘I think that’s for Dean to explain,’ she said.

‘But-’

‘Look trust me it’s probably best if I don’t. Bad mouthin’ a dead man ain’t really my style,’ she said. Sam’s brow furrowed until the dots connected. His dad. Of course it had something to do with his dad.

‘Right,’ he agreed. Again silence lingered, broken only by the murmured conversations just far away not to be distinct and the clink of glasses as the bartender worked quietly and methodically to tidy up now it was quieter. Lainey busied herself with a beer mat, twiddling it between her fingers. Sam watched his brother, arm now around the girl he’d been talking to, her mouth practically velcroed to his ear.

‘You know,’ he started, taking her attention from the coaster and causing it to fall underneath the table, destined to be forgotten, ‘if it’s any consolation I wouldn’t mind it. If you two y’know.’

‘Well that’s nice to know,’ she chuckled, ‘but er, I don’t think it’s something you’ll have to worry about.’

‘Why not?’ he asked. Lainey grinned.

‘Because I’m a cowboy too.’

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When Lainey awoke it was earlier than usual. Though she hadn’t had much to drink the night before she’d forgotten to close her curtains when she got back which meant the sun had crept in overnight winning the battle against the groaning air condition and making her slick with sweat. She didn’t mind though her body protested as she hauled herself out of bed and into the shower. It was nice and cool, her new mint and tea-tree shower gel pepping her up the moment it touched skin. She made a note to find a place to stash this one. Of course she was not above sharing with the boys, when hard times permitted, but Dean had a habit of not shopping for himself and pilfering fingers which meant that when she came to look through her finely curated stash of toiletries she’d often come up empty. Her only choice being the crusty-spouted motel amenities, nailed to the wall and almost always of the 2-in-1 variety though their combinations changed on a whim. Though as she left the bathroom she found her ambition zapping from her, hit by the heat and stalled by the sheer amount of effort it took to do any basic task when tired and warm. So she cut a couple of corners, making herself presentable but cool as she neglected her hairdryer for two long braids. Once she was done she grabbed her purse and headed outside, finding herself with company despite the hour. Dean was up and striding down the long walkway of the second floor with a smile on his face and, Lainey noted, the same clothes from last night.

‘Are you only just getting back?’ she asked, popping her sunglasses up on her head so she could watch him though there appeared to be nothing bashful about this ‘walk of shame.’

‘Hey while you two have been sleeping I’ve been working the case,’ he said, finally reaching her.

‘Is that what we’re calling it these days?’ she teased.

‘It is when it brings intel,’ he said, ‘you see Jennifer. She’s the vic’s sister. I saw her yesterday.’

‘Dean!’ she chastised, smacking him hard on the chest.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘You slept with a grieving relative?’ she said, shaking her head with disapproval.

‘We’re two consenting adults,’ he shrugged, ‘and she wasn’t feeling good. I helped.’

‘You’re a pig,’ Lainey replied, Dean beamed. She could’ve said worse, chastised him for being less than professional given the fact that he’d no doubt lied to her when he’d interviewed her. Sure they weren’t technically bound by the same ethically standards of whatever agency they were pretending to be from, the lying would probably be on the list of things not to do anyway, but they still had a responsibility she reasoned. Yet, her curiosity was needling at her, the mention of intel piquing her interest and Dean knew it, smugly waiting for her to ask him a question.

‘Go on,’ she sighed, ‘what did you find out?’

‘I thought you’d never ask,’ he grinned before diving into a tale about the project. Hannah and Jennifer were sisters and co-owners of the construction company spearheading the new project in town. A new marina, hundreds of houses and a new shiny highway creating a direct route between three major cities. More tourists, more people polluting every inch of shoreline. Nature destroyed and discarded. Families displaced for new and shiny people to take their place.

‘Well I can’t say I blame whoever it is haunting this damn town,’ Lainey said.

‘That’s the thing though. I don’t think it’s a person,’ Dean said.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I asked Jennifer if they’d had anyone who had a problem, you know people refusing to sell or whatever. She said most people were fine, they didn’t like it, but the company paid a hefty price tag to get them to sell up. The only stop out was one old dude, lives right down at the edge of town. She said the company tried everything to convince him, offered him double but he wouldn’t budge. Hannah even went down to his house herself, but he wouldn’t bend so she told him he had no choice.’

‘She threatened him?’ Lainey asked. Dean shrugged, ‘Jennifer didn’t say-’

‘She wouldn’t,’ Lainey muttered.

‘But,’ he continued, ‘she did say that the man gave as good as he got. He said that he wouldn’t have to move, the lake wouldn’t allow it.’

‘What does that mean?’ Lainey asked.

‘Hell if I know. But she did give me his address,’ Dean said.

‘Think he’d mind a couple of visitors?’ she smiled.

‘Probably but might as well check it out anyway,’ he said.

‘Breakfast first?’ Lainey asked.

‘Actually can you take Sam? I didn’t get much sleep last night,’ Dean winked. Lainey rolled her eyes and grimaced, ‘Ew. Fine, just tell him to meet me at the diner across the street.’

‘Will do,’ he agreed, heading to the room the pair of them shared as Lainey headed down the walkway though she stopped at the stairs and watched him with Sam’s words swirling in her head. Whatever problem he’d been having seemed to have gone again now they were alone. But had it? When they were around Sam again would he clam up again? She hoped not.

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The trip to the man’s home was eye-opening to say the least. Over breakfast Lainey had been thinking of a cover, a reason for schlepping to the outskirts of town that wouldn’t make him assume they were working for the construction company. There hadn’t been a need, he’d seen through their lie immediately, inviting them in with a knowing look. His house didn’t look like much from the outside, small and one story with cracked brick and a tin roof that had seen better days. And the outside was cluttered, old cars and various projects fighting the brush for space, but the inside was well cared for. It was clear he took pride in it, the simple belongings inside looked after and the rooms tidy and clean. It actually reminded her of Bobby’s in a way. Especially the trinkets and knick-knacks dotted around the place. In fact he reminded her of Bobby, a weather worn face where the lines deepened as he smiled, his eyes kind and understanding. Not that Bobby would be caught dead in his outfit which made up of various cotton spun layers, beads, and leather with greying braids that rivalled the length of hers.

He also reminded her of Bobby in the matter-of-fact way he’d told them they were facing a spirit, old and ancient and tied to the lake. Paakniwat he’d called them, an old Paiute word he’d kindly translated for them when they’d looked at him gormlessly. Water babies. Spirits that lived in the lake, generally harmless and only taking the odd offering here and there, usually someone who deserved it by polluting the water or not caring for the land they’d lived upon. Now they were restless, out for anyone who dared take destroy their home. It was a clever lure Lainey supposed, mimicking a child in distress, luring people in to help and then weighing them down until they drowned. Yet when they’d asked how to kill it and stop he’d shrugged and told them the lake would do as it needed to.

That was their cue to leave and a sign to head back to the library now that they had something substantial to go on. It was where Dean met them, still tired enough to let her and Sam do the heavy lifting as he rested his head on a pile of books. They’d been at it for a while, Lainey scouring old textbooks whilst Sam utilised the web. She’d thought about ringing Bobby, to nurse her growing homesickness more than anything, but the boys were used to doing things themselves and so she kept her head down and grafted eventually finding something useful.

‘I think I’ve found a way to kill it,’ she said after decent period of searching. Sam looked at her over his computer as she nudged Dean, knocking the books from under him with a jolt and earning herself a scowl.

‘Go on,’ Sam said ignoring him.

‘Well there’s nothing concrete. No guns or blades or metals that’ll definitely work but every passage or hint of lore talks about detaching them from their source,’ she explained.

‘The water,’ Dean said.

‘Yeah,’ she said, ‘looks like if we take it from the water and keep it away from it it’ll dry out I guess?’

‘Kinda like a salt and burn. Take away its source of power,’ Sam said.

‘I think so. I mean you have to get hold of one first. They’re only corporeal when they’re clinging to something, so it’d mean another victim which I’m not thrilled about,’ Lainey sighed.

‘But if this things gonna keep going unchecked there’ll be one anyway. We just have to figure out who it’s gonna be,’ Dean said.

‘Yeah, best guess would be to go through all the folks looking to be involved in this project. Women by looks of things,’ Lainey said.

‘Figures babies would have mommy issues,’ Dean said. Lainey smirked but turned her gaze back to her book. Dean glanced at Sam finding him thinking, whatever they’d said turning over in that Stanford educated head of his.

‘What is it?’ Dean asked knowingly.

‘Might be nothing but, this thing mimics the cry of baby right? To lure people, women, in?’ he said.

‘Yeah, lures them in locks and weighs them down till they drown,’ Lainey said.

‘Right but what if that’s not the end of the whole baby thing?’ he asked.

‘What do you mean?’ Dean asked.

‘This passage I’ve been reading. It talks like yeah they cling to the victim, mother, whatever, but it reads like they connect with whatever they’re after like a mother and baby are joined y’know,’ Sam explained.

‘Like an umbilical cord?’ Lainey asked.

‘Sorta, it says it leaves a mark. Hey, do you still have the morgue reports in your purse?’ he asked. Lainey grabbed her bag and rifled through it, producing the manila envelope a second later and handing it to him. Sam flicked through and cherry picked the pictures of the victims, laying them out on the table whilst Dean scanned the room to check there was no library goers about to be scarred for life before he looked at them too.

‘You told the doc they all had marks on them,’ Sam explained pointing to the red, suction cup mark dotted in various places on each victim, ‘but he dismissed you because he didn’t know what it was. What if it was this thing?’

‘Weren’t they pre-mortem though?’ Dean asked.

‘Yeah but what if that’s how it picks its victims? What if it makes its mark and then goes after whoever its picked?’ Sam asked.

‘We need to go,’ Dean said, standing up and shoving his coat on with urgency that caused both of them to follow suit, the look in his eyes serious enough for them both to know to haul ass.

‘What is it?’ Lainey asked, trying to shove the books in some sort of orderly pile given that there likely wasn’t time to put them back. Sam shoved his computer in his bag along with the pictures.

‘I know who the next victim is,’ he said.

‘How?’ Sam said.

‘Because I saw that mark last night,’ he said gravely.

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Lainey didn’t know how they were going to explain it, how Dean was going to convince Jenifer she was in real danger and that he wasn’t completely and utterly insane. But they had to, he had to. The only solace was that after hurrying out of the library they realised they had time. All three victims had been struck at some point in the night which meant they had a few hours of daylight to prepare and formulate a plan. Dean would go and explain and then hopefully wait it out with her until the spirit showed up, ready for another sacrifice. She and Sam would wait in the car for the signal, the prospect of the four of them sitting in Jennifer’s lounge a tad uncomfortable and weird, and then they’d head in, help Dean rip this thing off of her and lock it up in their freshly purchased cooler which had been lined with towels to maximise absorbency. It wasn’t a great plan, but it was all they had.

She was almost ready to go, the cooler waiting patiently on her bed as she got the rest of her stuff together. Sure a gun or a blade (or two) might not kill it, but she was confident it would slow it down if it came to it. As a knock came from the door she called out and invited whoever it was in, knowing it was one of the boys. Dean opening the door a moment later.

‘I’m almost ready,’ she said, throwing the last of her stuff in her purse and grabbing the keys off the side. Dean nodded but stood there, looking at her and then the cooler, an uneasy look on his face. Lainey’s eyes narrowed, ‘what is it?’

‘I’ve been thinking maybe you should stay here,’ he said.

‘What? Why?’ she asked.

‘Well this thing affects women,’ he said.

‘And?’

‘And you’re a woman,’ he said, again his words sounding like she was the idiot who’d failed to draw this conclusion already.

‘I’m not marked,’ she said. Dean didn’t have an answer for that, his gaze trailing away from her as he tried to think of something, but she got in quicker, ‘do we have a problem?’

‘What?’ he asked, confused.

‘Do you have a problem with me?’

‘Of course not,’ he scoffed.

‘Look if you don’t want me around all you have to do is say. I know I said I wanted to help but if it’s gonna to mean you bitchin’ and moanin’ at me every time I try and work the case-’

‘I don’t do that!’ he protested.

‘That’s all you’ve done!’ she said, ‘Dean every time we’re not on our own you treat me like I’m some kid or something. I don’t know why or what’s got your panties in a bunch but it’s getting real old. So if you have a problem-’

‘I don’t,’ he said angrily.

‘Really?’ she asked.

‘Of course not,’ he said firmly. Lainey sighed, ‘it doesn’t feel like it.’

‘What does that mean?’ he asked, his brow furrowed.

‘I don’t know you’re…you’re different,’ she said.

‘Newsflash honey, a lots changed since we last hunted together,’ he said defensively.

‘No I don’t mean that. I get that,’ she sighed, rubbing her face wearily, ‘I don’t know it’s just when we’re on our own you’re fine and then we get around Sam and…it’s like you don’t want me around anymore. Like everything I do irritates you…am I missing something?’

Dean was quiet, his green eyes boring into her face until he dropped his gaze to his shows guilty and shrugged, ‘I guess, I guess I’m still getting used to the dynamic.’

‘Yeah well, can you get with it a little quicker,’ she said, moving towards him and shoving the cooler into his hands, ‘because I don’t know how much longer I can take you being pissy.’

And with that he was gone, disappearing down the long corridor towards her car where Sam was already waiting. Dean sighed and shut the door to her room, his heart thudding as he tried to shake that perpetual uneasy feeling from inside his chest.

The ride to Jennifer’s was quiet, Sam’s suggestion to take one car immediately regretted by all parties, especially Sam who kept trying to make small talk and eventually gave up when his attempts turned sour once more. Lainey said nothing, ignoring Dean’s routine checking on her in his rearview, just kept her eyes out the window, watching as the expanse of desert got closer to the water’s edge. It was no surprise Jennifer lived near the water, in one of the new builds being used to show the towns people what was to come once the highway was under construction. It was modern and boxy and though the large windows no doubt gave great views of the lake even if the back of it was all desert, miles and miles of natural land soon to be concrete and asphalt.

‘You know what you’re gonna tell her?’ Sam asked as they pulled up.

‘Not a clue,’ Dean said, checking he had everything before he opened his door.

‘Well the truth might be the only way to go on this one,’ Sam said sadly.

‘Yeah well if you hear screaming come runnin’,’ Dean muttered. He risked a glance at Lainey, their eyes meeting for a second before she looked away.

She waited until he was on the driveway before she clambered over the seat, allowing Sam to shuffle into the driver’s side whilst she took his place. He looked as though he wanted to ask her something but she fiddled with the radio, babbling about finding a country station so he kept quiet, hoping whatever it was would fizzle out soon enough. Stake outs were hard enough without squabbling, or worse, him being pinned in the middle. Whatever it was Lainey didn’t talk about and he didn’t pry, just sat dutifully in the impala waiting for the sun to dip over the hill which it did, casting the sky in a rich burnt orange colour before fading to darkness.

The house was still. Everything was really. Of course there was the occasional cry of a far-away coyote and the rustle of the wind as it swirled loose, dry brush from the ground, but everything else stayed quiet. Stagnant. Lainey couldn’t even hear the water moving, though it was just beyond the embankment beside them, as it lapped so gently and calmly across the lake. For a while they’d tried to beat the silence, but the radio stations struggled for signal out here and after another patch of static she’d turned it off and lay down, her head in his lap which admittedly had startled him at first until he’d realised there was no point in fighting her. And though they’d chatted for a while, ignoring whatever it was that had caused the quiet ride, it eventually fizzled out, leaving Sam watching the house whilst she closed her eyes, her fingers moving as though she was playing guitar, her mouth mimicking notes as she tried to memorise them.

‘Are you…are you writing a song?’ Sam asked after watching her, the lack of movement from the house not as intriguing as whatever she was doing.

‘Sam,’ she whined, her eyes flying open to look at him, ‘I was tryin’ to. You messed me up.’

‘Sorry,’ he said as she sat up, kneeling up on the seat to reach in the back. She was hanging over it, back end up near his face which made him look away, ignoring the grunts of exertion she was making before she flopped back onto the seat, notebook in hand. He watched as she uncapped the pen, keeping the lid in her mouth as she scribbled something down inside it.

Sam peered over the top of her hand, straining to read the upside down. The pages were a mess of lyrics, chords squeezed in at the side alongside an entry dated four days ago, his and Dean’s name peppered in there which made him pull back, immediately feeling bad for prying. Once she was done she capped the pen and tossed that and the journal onto the back seat.

‘What?’ she asked finding him watching her.

‘Nothing, I didn’t know you kept a journal,’ he said simply.

‘Yeah well it’s not really a hunter thing more a me thing I guess,’ she said.

‘How so?’ he asked.

‘It’s not lore or fifty ways to gank a ghost or anything like Bobby’s or your dad’s. It’s more life stuff, songs, poems, whatever’s in here,’ she said, pointing to her head.

‘It’s cool. It’s nice to have somewhere to get it all out,’ he said.

‘Well it’s that or go crazy so option numero uno is probably our safest method,’ she giggled.

‘Maybe we can Dean one for Christmas,’ Sam joked making her laugh again.

‘Oh yeah I can just see him just itchin’ to lay his soul bare can’t you,’ she teased.

‘We could even get him one of those heart shaped pens,’ Sam laughed.

‘With pink fluff,’ Lainey grinned. Their laughter echoed out, spilling into the desert that lay outside the car and bouncing back off the inky night sky until it petered out leaving them both smiling.

‘So um,’ Sam said, picking at the leather flap dean hadn’t yet fixed on the steering wheel, ‘you two good?’

‘Ask your brother,’ she said.

‘Lainey I think-’ Sam started but his words were cut off by screaming. His phone hadn’t rung but there was no doubt someone was in trouble and so without thinking he threw the door open and ran, barely paying attention to Lainey who had rushed to the trunk to yank the cooler from it. He made it up the driveway in a short sprint, thankfully finding the door unlocked, but the downstairs was empty, the screaming now muffled by Dean’s voice yelling at him to come upstairs, which he took two at a time headed straight for the first door he could reach.

The bathroom was small, made tinier by the fact there was now three of them inside there. Jennifer was submerged in the bathtub, thrashing around as Dean tried to keep her head above the water. Sam tried the faucet but knobs wouldn’t budge, they just kept pumping gallons on gallons of icy cold water out from the pipes until the tub was over flowing.

‘Forget the faucet just help,’ Dean grunted, whatever it was too strong for him to fight alone. Sam dove in, grabbing Jennifer by the waist and yanking. The spirit snatched back, muffling another scream as she was pulled under once more. Sam braced himself and yelled, ‘on three,’ to Dean who was struggling, the water-soaked tiles beneath his knees causing him to slide forward as the spirit pulled tighter.

‘One,’ Sam said, cementing his feet wider, ‘two,’ as Dean’s fingers clamped on around arms, ‘three!’

And that was it. With one great yank the three of them tumbled back, collapsing in a heap of limbs on the floor. Dean moved quickly to check on Jennifer who was coughing and spluttering up lungfuls of water onto the already soaked floor. Sam scrambled up, ready to capture the thing that had almost killed her but found nothing there, the water that had overflowed from the porcelain tub now withdrawing at speed and leaving their waterlogged clothes the only evidence anything had happened.

‘You get it?’ Dean asked, sparing a moment to look at his brother once he was sure Jennifer was okay, shaken but okay. Sam shook his head.

‘Damnit!’ Dean grunted.

‘What happened?’ Sam asked.

‘I only came to use the bathroom,’ Jennifer croaked, ‘the tub filled itself and then there was this baby crying. I could see it in the water, drowning and I knew what Dean had said but it’s like I couldn’t stop myself-’

‘It’s not your fault,’ Dean reassured, moving to help her up off the floor. However it was only once he was on his feet he noticed it was just the three of them there.

‘Where’s Lainey?’ he asked, looking at Sam who seemed just as surprised she wasn’t behind him. He moved from the bathroom, descending the stairs only to find an empty cooler left dropped at the bottom, towels spilled out on the hardwood floor. Dean appeared a minute later, his gaze meeting Sam’s as a cold feeling overcame him. He didn’t think, didn’t do anything but run, bolting past his brother out down the driveway. Sam barked an order at Jennifer to stay put and grabbed the cooler, following as quickly as he could but Dean was already over the hill, heading towards the lake.

He could see her walking slowly towards the water’s edge, but she didn’t turn when he yelled, her name bouncing back at him through the night sky. He could see it too, the baby, the spirit, nestled in the water by the end of the jetty. Lainey was close by now, kneeling to reach for it but every time she did it drifted out of her grasp. Dean willed his legs to move faster, to get there quicker before she touched the damn thing. He couldn’t hear it, couldn’t feel the draw of it but his heart hammered in fear anyway. He was gaining on her, if he could just get there and scoop her up Sam could grab the ugly bastard. But his luck never did run that simple and the moment his foot hit the dock her fingers grazed it, and it clamped down on her hand and yanked, pulling her under into the dark waves.

Dean didn’t hesitate. He just ran and jumped in without another thought. The water was cold and getting choppier by the second as Lainey struggled against the creature, creating her own riptide on a sea of calm. He swam against it, fighting his hardest to get to her before it did any real damage. It didn’t take him long, sheer will and determination making him swim faster than he ever had, and he grabbed hold of her, trying to keep her head above water. There was no fighting this thing, not when it had the power of the lake on its side. He just needed to get her out, to get her to safety. And she was fighting it too, pushing at the creature as he tried to swim back to the dock, but every hit she made slowed him down and pulled him back against the tide. He couldn’t speak, couldn’t tell her to stop because all he could hear was her screaming, like a knife to his gut along with every sob and beg she let out.

As Sam appeared he made himself focus, his eyes on the cooler and Sam’s extended hand, his leg locked around one of the posts as an anchor. Dean kept swimming, the taste of mud and silt coating his mouth as Lainey thrashed and the spirit thrashed back. He was within reaching distance, Sam’s fingers a stride or two away when it stopped. Lainey went limp in his arms, a dead weight made all the heavier by whatever was still attached to her, sucking the lifeforce from her as it tried to pull her under. Dean didn’t bother reaching for Sam, instead he just thrust her as hard as he could out of the water, allowing his brother to lock onto her and yank. As Sam pulled her up on the dock he forced himself out of the water, the spirit still attached to her other arm. It looked startled as he grabbed hold of it, the old, wrinkled face a poor imitation of the baby it had tried to be. But without the water behind it, it was weaker and Dean fought to get it off her and into the cooler, hurling it inside and slamming the lid shut before he clicked the lock closed. It thrashed, knocking the box onto its side but its tremors grew weaker by the second, the box stilling after less than a minute.

Except Dean didn’t have time to keep his eye on it because Sam shouted, his voice deep and guttural, scared. As he turned around he found Sam hanging over Lainey who lay on the dock, unmoving and deathly pale. He rushed to her side, practically pushing Sam out of the way as he tried to wake her.

‘Lainey,’ he said, smacking her face gently, ‘Lainey wake up.’

But she remained still, with her eyes closed and her breathing non-existent. Panic grew inside him, his movements growing more forceful as he said, ‘Lainey come on god damn it wake up!’

Again she didn’t stir.

‘Dean we need to call an ambulance,’ Sam said, already reaching for his phone as the minutes grew longer and the panic set deeper into his bones.

‘Lainey please,’ Dean begged, ‘c’mon darlin’ wake up. You can’t do this not now; we’re just getting started. You, me, and Sammy.’

He could hear Sam’s conversation with the operator, the words muffled and his eyes full of concern as he watched them. She was lay in Dean’s lap, like she had been in his not an hour ago, but the light, the laughter that she’d had then was gone. Her limbs were floppy, her complexion growing paler by the second.

‘Lainey come on,’ Dean said, lifting her up until she was cradled in his chest, ‘please don’t leave me.'

Everything was still and quiet until a tiny sound came from her, muffled against the flannel he was wearing. A cough, tiny, but there. Dean pulled back, patting her back hard until she coughed up more and more, dirty foaming remnants of lake water spewing down his front.

‘Dean,’ she croaked, looking up at him as another cough came.

‘Hey, I got you,’ he said, hugging her closer, burying her in his chest. Sam allowed himself a sigh of relief before he started relaying the news to the operator, the cooler conspicuously under his arm as he headed to the road to head them off. Lainey pulled back to look up at him, her voice tired and spent as she said, ‘look at that.’

‘What?’ Dean asked, scouting around in case she’d seen something he’d missed.

‘You’re finally bein’ nice to me when Sams around,’ she said, her laugh turning into a cough that burned her lungs, gasps for air coming thick and fast after it. Dean shook his head, allowing himself a small chuckle.

‘Okay I might not have been fair on you these past couple of days, but you can’t deny I was right about you not comin’ on this one. You were just being stubborn,’ he replied, moving her wet bangs from her where they sat dishevelled and hapless on her face. Lainey smiled weakly, ‘keeps you on your toes doesn’t it?’

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Lainey zipped up her duffle and threw it on the bed alongside the rest of her belongings. She could feel her arms protesting at the idea of carrying everything downstairs, the mark the water baby had left still smarting whenever she put pressure on it. But after a hospital visit and two long days laid up in bed with Dean watching her like a hawk, frowning every time she so much as coughed, she was ready to get the hell out of this town. Maybe she could convince Sam to carry everything downstairs for her, a wince and sigh likely all she’d need for him to take everything from her arms.

She hoped it was him as she heard a knock at the door, beckoning him to come in. It wasn’t, it was Dean who surveyed her bulk of belongings like he always did, with an eye roll. Lainey ignored him.

‘You ready to go?’ she asked.

‘Yeah, just packing up now,’ Dean said, moving towards the bed, his eyes roving over her as though he was getting the facts, pre-empting a lie as he asked, ‘how you feeling?’

‘Fine,’ she said, rolling her eyes as he looked sceptical, ‘honestly. I’m just about warm again and those two days in bed didn’t do me any harm.’

‘Right, right,’ Dean nodded, his fingers fiddling with the canvas on the straps of her bag.

‘That it?’ she asked, watching him with anticipation. He cleared his throat, looking at her through his lashes as he replied, ‘I um, I just wanted to say sorry.’

‘Sorry?’ she asked, gaining his full attention.

‘Yeah,’ he mumbled, ‘for…for being a dick to you.’

‘Dean,’ she sighed.

‘No, I need to say it. You were right I did treat you like crap and I don’t know why or…I don’t know I guess, I was just worried about you,’ he admitted.

‘Why?’ she asked, ‘we’ve hunted together before-’

‘I know, I know,’ he said, perching on the bed. Lainey pushed her guitar case up and sat next to him, waiting for whatever it was to come spilling out. That was the trick with Dean. Waiting. Waiting for whatever it was that was gnawing at him to claw its way to the surface.

‘I guess when it was just me and Sam all I had to worry about was him. When I was with you all I had to worry about was you…now I have to worry about both of you. I guess I just thought it’d be easier if I didn’t care about you the way I did Sam. If I distanced myself or whatever,’ he admitted, looking at her guiltily.

‘Did it work?’ she asked after a moment.

‘What?’ he said, his brow furrowing.

‘Pushing me away. Did it stop you worrying about me?’ she asked.

‘Would’ve if you weren’t chompin’ and the bit to get your ass killed,’ he said, with a hint of smile. Lainey grinned, ‘fair enough…but I told you before Dean. You can’t do all this on your own, pretending you don’t care doesn’t make it true.’

‘I know,’ he said quietly, ‘I just…I don’t know what I’d do y’know if anything happened to you.’

‘Well then you’re just gonna have to make sure nothing does aren’t you?’ she said, standing up and offering him a hand. Dean took it, lingering for a moment before he dropped it. His smile was weak but grew stronger as she looked at him, sure and pure like she always was.

‘Come on. We better get going or Sammy will be thinkin’ we’ve started World War Three,’ he said, clearing his throat and heading for the door. Lainey watched him, watched how he picked all her bags up in one fell swoop without a word. She said nothing, just grabbed her guitar case and followed as he left the room confident that whatever pretending he’d been doing sure to stay left behind in Arizona.

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If I was a cowboy, I'd be wild and free, Rollin' around these towns like tumbleweeds, I'd be a legend at loving and leaving, Nipping on a whiskey and numbing up my feelings, You thought the West was wild but you ain't saddled up with me,

If I was a cowboy, I'd be the queen.

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