As It Was - Dean Winchester

Part 27

I chewed at the end of the pen, staring at the wall. I had been taking a page from John Winchester on this one, pining all the maps, pictures, and leads on the wall to get a better view of what I knew and didn't.

Usually, I liked my organized chaos, but this did seem to get the wheels in my mind to turn. Ava Wilson's picture was in the middle, over a map where I had marked out every place the known psychics had a connection to.

The wall didn't stop me from laying out papers on the floor around me as well, and with my computer in front of me, showing me documents about the girl's fiancé. I scribbled something half-mindedly on a post-it note and placed it over the autopsy report.

A cup of coffee appeared in front of me, and without looking up, I grabbed it from Dean's hand and resumed staring at the wall. I should probably mark out Ava's fiancé's place of birth as well...

Dean's hand appeared in front of me again, snapping his fingers. I blinked and looked up at him, popping out of my bubble.

"What?" I asked.

"We've been talking to you," Dean told me, annoyed, and I offered an apologetic smile, encouraging him to continue. "Sam spoke with Ellen. She's got a case for us."

"A hotel in Cornwall, Connecticut," Sam began to explain. "Two freak accidents in the past three weeks."

"You think there might be a connection?" I asked, raising a brow. The brothers shared look, revealing that they'd already had this conversation while I wasn't paying attention.

"It's a job. I mean, a lady drowned in the bathtub; then a few days ago, a guy falls down the stairs, head turns a complete one-eighty. Which isn't exactly normal, you know? Look, I don't know, guys, it might be nothing, but I told Ellen we'd think about checking it out."

"Really?" I got up from the floor, stretching my legs. I must have sat in the same position for hours.

"Yeah. You seem surprised." Sam looked from me to Dean, studying our reactions.

"Well yeah, it's just, you know, not the, uh, patented Sam Winchester way, is it?" Dean told him, taking a seat on one of the beds.

"What way is that?" Sam challenged.

"I just figured after Ava, there'd be, uh, you know, more angst and droopy music and staring out the rainy windows, and--" The look Sam gave Dean made the older of them trail off. "yeah, I'll shut up now."

Dean moved to lean against the headboard, coffee in hand, and I popped down in the same position on the second bed while Sam started pacing the room,

"Look. I'm the one who told her to go back home. Now her fiancé's dead, and some demon has taken her off to God knows where. You know?" Sam said, sounding tired, and eventually, he sat down at the end of the bed I was in. "But we've been looking for a month now, and we've got nothing. So I'm not giving up on her, but I'm not going to let other people die either. We've got to save as many people as we can."

"Wow. That attitude is just way too healthy for me, and I'm officially uncomfortable now. Thank you," Dean joked, managing to get Sam's dimples to show and a low chuckle escaping from his lips. I looked over at Dean smiling, earning a grin back. "All right, call Ellen. Tell her we'll take it."

---

The Pierpoint Inn turned out to be an old mansion that looked like it belonged in a British drama series, even from the outside. The Impala came to a stop in the driveway, and I stepped out of the car, drawing in the sweet smell of the wet earth.

"Dude, this is sweet. I never get to work jobs like this," Dean claimed, climbing out from the driver's seat and looking up at the old house.

"Like what?" Sam asked, pulling his backpack over his shoulder.