Series: Two Guys, a Girl and a Chevy Impala
Story One: “The Demons We Hide”
Authors: Clarksmuse and X_tremeroswellian
Rated: R
Genre: Smallville/Supernatural crossover
Pairings: Eventual Chloe/Dean, of course
Spoilers: Spoiler speculation for Smallville; up through "No Exit" of Supernatural.
The Demons We Hide (Chapter One)
Sam let out an annoyed sigh and stretched the map over the dashboard, studying it the best he could in the moving car. "It'd help if you'd pull over for five minutes," he grumbled.
Deliberately swerving around the road, Dean smirked at Sam's swearing. "We don't have time to stop," he stated flatly. "Gotta be in Topeka by nightfall. You'll just have to deal, College Boy." He turned up the music to a deafening level.
He shot his older brother a glare, wincing as his injured hand bumped against the door. He probably should have gone to the hospital because in all likelihood it was broken. Too bad they both hated hospitals. Especially now. His mood was gloomy as he stared at the map intently. "All right you're gonna wanna turn right on exit 21."
Watching exit 21 pass as Sam said that, he asked, "Oh, you mean THAT exit?" Sighing, Dean was about to do a complete 180 in the middle of the road when he noticed a bright red car up the road. A Beetle. And... a woman. Dean hit the gas and gunned it.
"What the hell?" Sam looked at Dean like he'd lost his mind as he gunned the engine instead of turned around. When he spotted the same thing his brother had, he rolled his eyes. "Oh you've gotta be kidding me."
Glancing at Sam, he smirked as he watched the pretty blonde bend over into the open hood in an attempt to figure out what was wrong with her car. "What? You gonna let THAT stay stranded on the side of the road?" He snorted as he stared and pulled over to the side of the road.
"Yeah because meeting blondes on the side of the road's worked so well for us in the past," he mumbled, thinking of how he'd met Meg.
"Not my fault Meg was a psycho," he grumbled under his breath, knowing what Sam was talking about. He slowly got out of the car, just in time to see the blonde lean up and turn around. He put on his best smile. "Got some car trouble, miss?"
The blonde regarded them warily, but didn't seem frightened. Sam offered her a small smile, hoping she wasn't going to turn out to be a demon of some kind.
"Yeah, you could say that." There was a hint of frustration in her voice, and her green eyes were filled with mixed emotions.
Turning around to give Sam the 'get out of the car' look, Dean looked at the girl and smiled lazily. "Lucky for you I know something about cars."
Sam reluctantly got out of the Impala and hung close to the door, ready to leave Dean in the dust if the girl showed any signs of demonic evil. Funny thing, though... she just looked upset.
"I've called Triple A," she informed him, not really in the mood to deal with anyone of the male persuasion at the moment.
Dean laughed. Hard. "Triple A, huh?" he said, looking at Sam. "It'll take them... what? at least an hour to get here and they'll charge you through the nose. I'm much cheaper."
She didn't smile. "If you wanna look at it, that'd be great." She moved away from the hood and leaned against the driver's side of the car.
Sam shot her a shy, hesitant smile. "Dean knows his cars," he said, watching Dean lean over the engine and take a long, hard look.
Nodding, but not meeting his eyes, she kept her gaze focused on the road, her body tense. A lock of her blonde hair blew in her face from the cold December wind and she swiped it away.
Once under the hood, Dean got himself momentarily lost in the beauty that was a car's engine. Even if it was a Volkswagen. His nose was immediately assaulted by the smell of radiator fluid. "Oh yeah, this puppy's not going anywhere," he said softly, moving back to crouch under the car.
"Fantastic," she said under her breath, her shoulders slumping as she leaned more heavily against her car, shutting her eyes. Wasn't that just her luck?
"Yep," Dean was saying, standing back up and dusting off his jeans. "Nothing bad, just a blown radiator. But you're gonna need a tow and a ride into town." He looked at the back of the girl's head and smiled.
Rolling his eyes, Sam shot his brother a look to be nice. It hadn't escaped his attention that the girl seemed like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. "We can... give you a ride," he said slowly.
She looked up, startled at the offer. Then she glanced at Dean. "How long does that usually take to fix?" she asked, a hint of anxiousness in her tone.
Dean shrugged, a hint of flirtation in his smile. "Couple days."
A curse word she hardly ever spoke escaped her lips, though it was barely audible. She had the sudden urge to turn and kick her once beloved car for letting her down the same way everyone else had lately. Tears springing to her eyes, she turned away, blinking them back.
"It's really not a big deal," Dean said, his voice dying in his throat at the murderous look on her face. "Name's Dean. This is my brother Sam."
"I'm Chloe," she muttered, forcing herself to take a deep breath.
"Chloe, you... okay?" Sam asked quietly, noticing the blatant emotions cross her face.
Looking at Sam, Dean asked, "Yeah, where you headed?"
"As far away from Kansas as I can get," she responded, raking a hand through her hair. "Where are you guys going?"
Shrugging, Dean replied, "Louisville, Kentucky." He wanted to laugh at the look Sam gave him. "Aren't we, Sammy?" He looked pointedly at Sam.
"Sure," Sam said with a note of resignation in his voice.
"That's a good start," Chloe murmured, looking between them warily. "You guys sure you don't mind?"
"Of course not," Sam replied, his voice polite and calm. "What do you want to do with your car?"
She was silent for a moment, looking at it with sad eyes. "I think I'll just leave it."
"Leave it?" Dean asked, genuinely surprised at her comment. Not that he'd ever leave his first love, the Impala. "Seriously?"
"Better this way anyway." She pulled her bags out of the backseat. It'd be a lot harder to track her if she ditched her car.
Walking to the back of the Impala, dean popped the trunk and let her put her things in the false trunk top. "I'll make Sam take the backseat," he whispered with a small smile.
"That's really not necessary," she said quietly, meeting his gaze for the first time.
Dean was taken back by the depth of Chloe's green eyes. And the emotion behind them. Swallowing visibly, he smiled at her lopsidedly. "No, it really is. Sam hates sitting in the back."
Her eyebrows furrowed a little. "Which is probably why I should sit there," she said in confusion.
Slamming the trunk closed, he winked at her. "First thing you'll learn. I love pissing Sammy off." Walking to the front of the car, he yelled, "Sam, you're in the backseat!"
Muttering a curse, Sam shot a hateful glance at Dean. "You're asking for it," he grumbled as he got into the back seat.
Frowning a little, Chloe put her hand on the back door of the Impala. "Really, I can sit in back."
"No, it's okay, Chloe," Sam replied from the back of the car. "Payback's a *****, and Dean knows that."
Throwing her a lazy smile, Dean looked at her from across the car. "He's just jealous because I won the last round of pranks."
She gave him a quizzical look, shaking her head as she reluctantly climbed into the passenger seat. "Nice car," she said softly.
"Be gentle with her," Sam said sarcastically. "It's Dean's love."
Starting the engine, Dean smiled seductively. "Yeah, she purrs only for me." Putting the car into drive, he maneuvered the Impala onto the road in the opposite direction.
"I bet she does," she remarked with a faint smirk, turning her head to stare blankly out the passenger window.
For several moments, the three of them sat in awkward silence. Dean's fingers itched to turn on some tunes, but he refrained. Something about the way she was slumped in the seat worried him a little. "So Chloe... where you from?"
"Kansas," she said vaguely, not looking at him.
"Big state," Dean commented idly. "Care to elaborate?"
"Not really."
Shrugging his shoulders, he leaned over and turned on his favorite Metallica song, humming along to it and drumming against the steering wheel.
Sam smiled a little, settling into the backseat. Trust Dean to try to attract a woman who apparently had no interest in him.
* * *
Chloe was somewhere between exhausted and wound up by the time they arrived in Hudson, Missouri. The ride had been in relative silence, which suited her just fine. Neither of the guys seemed threatening and she didn’t feel like she was in danger. Of course, she didn’t usually feel in danger until some meteor freak tried to off her. She climbed out of the passenger seat, toting both of her bags as she looked up at the vacancy sign at the small motel. She glanced at Sam and Dean briefly, then headed for the lobby.
Following Chloe, Dean frowned as they entered the hotel lobby. It had been a long ride for him, especially since she wasn’t forthcoming with anything about herself. Seemed to him that she was running, but from what, he didn’t have a clue. Though a small yet curvy woman, he got the impression she was anything but frail. Good for him, he thought as he paid for a room with a card he’d scammed off a guy on their last stop. Sam seemed awfully quiet, too, following Chloe as they’d gotten adjoining rooms.
Sam had been wondering the entire time what Chloe was afraid of or running from, but he didn’t know how to ask her. Instead, he said, “You need us, we’ll be right next door.”
“Thanks,” she murmured, barely glancing at him as she headed into the room and quietly shut the door behind her, locking it immediately. Setting her bags down, she glanced at the small digital clock on the nightstand by the bed. She’d been gone for slightly over fourteen hours. She wondered if anyone had noticed yet. She doubted it. She flopped down on the bed and closed her eyes, covering them with her arms and exhaling slowly.
Shutting the door behind him, Dean looked around at the slightly shabby hotel room and threw his bag on the floor. “She’s running from something,” he commented, not looking at Sam.
“You figured that out, too, huh?” Sam looked toward the door worriedly. “What do you think she’s running from?”
“Kinda obvious, man,” Dean replied, a frown on his face. “I have no idea what she’s running from, but I’m pretty sure it’s from something... maybe someone... in Kansas.” He sat up, scratching his head and wondering how to get her to open up.
He was silent for a moment. “You think someone...hurt her?”
“With her eyes as sad as hers?” Dean asked seriously. “Hell yeah. Boyfriend, maybe?” He didn’t like the sound of that, but he had to ask nonetheless.
“Maybe,” he murmured, still looking worried. “She was awful quick to decide to ditch her car.”
Dean nodded. “Especially for something as simple as a busted radiator.” He looked at Sam’s worried face. “Dude, your face is gonna break if you frown any harder.”
“I just wonder what we got ourselves involved in, Dean.”
Looking at Sam, he cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, here it comes. The blame game.” He stood up and moved to the bathroom to get some water. “You gonna blame me for all this?”
“Not what I said,” he replied tiredly, lying down on the bed, and rubbing his forehead. “If she’s in trouble, we should help, but...”
“But you think there’s going to be trouble with her around,” he replied, taking a long drink of water and grimacing. “There’s the bourbon when you need it?” he asked himself.
“And not exactly our kind of trouble.”
“So we drop her off in Louisville and leave her there?” he demanded, looking hard at Sam. “Does it matter what her problem is? It’s not like you haven’t asked the same of me before.” And look how those turned out, he thought to himself.
“That’s not what I meant, either.”
Sighing, he looked at Sam. “Alright, dude. You’re gonna have to explain it to me, cause I can’t read minds.” He sat down expectantly.
“Dean, we were already on another case,” he pointed out.
“Right, the mysterious deaths in Topeka,” Dean replied, looking into his glass and wishing it was alcohol. “So we drop her off in Louisville, leave her, and get back to our job. A little out of the way, but...” He shrugged his shoulders casually, hiding the fact that he actually didn’t know what to do with Chloe.
“Yeah, but if she’s in some kind of trouble, we can’t just ditch her,” Sam said softly, knowing his brother didn’t want to do that anymore than he did. “So...we figure out what’s going on with her, help her out of it...and then head back to Kansas.” He looked over at Dean with raised eyebrows.
Looking out of his glass and at Sam, he said, “Sure, dude. Like I said... without the whole leaving her part. So you gonna just go next door and ask her what she’s running from?” He looked pointedly at the connecting door.
“Me?”
The look on Sam’s face was priceless. Dean laughed. “You afraid of her?” he asked.
“Of course not,” he scoffed. “But you’re the one who decided to pick her up off the side of the road and flirt with her for 200 miles.”
“I didn’t flirt with her for 200 miles,” he mocked slightly. “She shot me down after... about 50.” He sighed and put down his glass. “Fine, I’ll go talk to her.”
Sam smirked. “Be nice.”
“Hey, it’s me,” he replied with a smirk, moving to the connecting door and lightly rapping on it.
“Exactly,” he mumbled under his breath, heading for the bathroom to take a shower.
Snorting back the rueful laughter, Dean knocked a little louder on the door, wondering if Chloe would answer it or if he was going to beat it down.
A moment later the door opened and Chloe gazed at him guardedly. “Yeah?”
Once again, Dean was aware of the depth of some unknown emotion in her dark green eyes and swallowed hard. “We need to talk,” he said, not knowing how else to say it.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be gone in the morning,” she told him without hesitation. “I appreciate the help.” She started to close the door.
Dean grabbed the door, preventing her from shutting him out. “Oh no,” he replied, looking at her sternly. “I’ve offered you help, and I’m not letting you go until we’ve helped you.”
“Actually you offered me a ride, which I appreciate,” she retorted.
“Yeah, because you’re going to have oh so much fun hitchhiking from here on out,” he said lazily, leaning against the doorjamb.
“Who said anything about hitchhiking?”
“Walking, riding the bus...” He waved his hand in the air. “Point is, you’re going to be alone. And I don’t know who you’re running from, but I promise you, they always catch up eventually.”
Chloe blanched involuntarily, her face paling a little. He had a point. It didn’t matter how she left, she had the distinct feeling she’d be found sooner or later. And it wasn’t like she could just use a credit card and hop a flight across the Atlantic. Too easy to track down then. ****. Feeling tired, she shut her eyes, slumping against the doorframe.
Dean watched her face turn white as a sheet and knew he had hit a nerve. Crossing his arms, he said, “Sam and I, we’re good at helping people. It’s... a thing we do. Really, maybe we can help.” He just hoped it ended up being a supernatural problem.
“Somehow I doubt it,” she whispered, turning away and moving farther into her room, sinking slowly down on the edge of the bed.
Unsure of whether he should invade her space or not, Dean remained propped against the door. “Not surprised you’re doubting our kick-ass abilities,” he replied nonchalantly.
Lifting an eyebrow, she looked up at him. “I don’t need kick-ass abilities. I’m not in danger. Unless some meteor freak followed me out of Smallville,” she added in a mumble.
Standing up straight, he frowned at her. “Meteor freak?” he asked. “Oh, so you’re from Smallville, then.” He’d heard of the place, of course. The weirdness that happened there knew no bounds, though that was one place he and Sam had never needed to drive through.
“Sort of,” she answered, looking tired.
Dean’s face darkened at Chloe’s tiredness. It bothered him that such a pretty girl could look so haggard. It just wasn’t right. “Look, I get that you don’t want me around, so... I’m going to leave you alone.” He turned to close the connecting door behind him. Why he had never bothered to learn to actually talk to girls was beyond him, he thought.
“Dean.” Her voice was soft.
“Yeah,” he said matter-of-factly, stopping to look back at her.
She lifted her gaze to meet his. “I do appreciate the ride out of Kansas.”
Dean hesitated for a moment. “What are you running from?” he asked quietly.
Her eyes clouded over and she looked down at the floor. “You ever just wanna start all over? Not look back?”
He immediately thought of his father, the man he had always looked up to, who taught him everything he knew. The man who’d died unexpectedly. Suspiciously.
Lately especially, the need to leave his life for another one was stronger than ever. But he couldn’t, no matter how much he wanted to. Because of Sam. Because of his damn father. Because of too many reasons he didn’t want to face. Looking down, his jaw clenched in anger. “Yes,” he said simply.
When she spoke again, her voice was thick. “That’s what I’m doing.”
A sudden thought occurred to him, though he knew Sam would probably murder him to even mentioning it. “So make a new life hanging out with us,” he replied. “Can’t say it’s a steady one, but hell, it has its perks.” And having a girl around might be cool, he thought.
Chloe jerked her head up to stare at him in shock. “You barely know me.”
He smiled, a lazy grin on his face. “Two weeks smushed in the Impala would fix that,” he replied, taking a couple steps into her room.
“You’re...serious,” she said with wide-eyes.
“Most of the time, no,” he replied casually. “This time, though... Yes, I am.” He couldn’t believe he was offering, but he sure wasn’t going to take it back. Chloe looked like she needed a friend.
Her green eyes locked on his blue ones and remained there for several long moments. “I can’t believe I’m saying this but...” She drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “All right.”
“Good,” he said, releasing the pent up breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Yeah, having her around would be good. For both of them, he thought. Sam and his ever-incessant need to talk about their father had been grating on him for sometime. Maybe he wouldn’t do that with her around. “We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”
“Where are we going? And what exactly...do you do?” she asked, wondering what she’d just gotten herself into.
Scratching his head, Dean hesitated for a moment. How DID he tell her what they did? he asked himself. “We’ve got to head back to Topeka for a... job, in a sense.” He looked at her intently, his eyes darkening with seriousness. “Do you have an... open mind?” he asked cautiously.
Despite her tiredness and all the thoughts swirling in her head, a grin formed on her lips. “You could say that.”
“You’re gonna need it, then, because...” Dean paused, wondering if she was ready to hear this.
Chloe raised her eyebrows, growing more intrigued every second. She leaned forward a little. “Because...?”
“We... hunt things,” he finished in a solemn voice, watching the interest in her eyes with an amused look of his own.
Her eyes twinkled. “I’m assuming you’re not talking about moose and squirrel.”
Dean laughed. “Hell no. Sam can’t shoot those to save his life.” His laughter subsided, however, as he continued. “No, we hunt those things that go bump in the night.”
A short chuckle escaped her. Like meteor freaks? she thought, bemused. How perfectly ironic.
Dean’s brow furrowed into a frown. Okay, not the response he was expecting. “That funny to you?” he asked darkly, staring at her amused face.
His look only made her chuckle again and she held up a hand. “No, no. I’m sorry, it’s just...” She let out a breath, shaking her head a little. “If you knew how many encounters I’ve had with things that go bump in the night...you’d find it incredibly ironic that I ran into two guys on the side of the road, no less, who hunt said things.”
He smiled wryly, finding it incredibly ironic to find a young woman who not only knew about the evil out there but had faced it and survived. “Then we have something to talk about in the car,” he offered.
This time when she smiled, it was sincere.
Dean felt like he’d been punched in the gut with Chloe’s real smile. It made him feel things he thought had been long buried, which caused no small amount of concern. The smile died on his face as he grew serious. “It’s late. I should go and let you sleep. Believe me, you’ll need it.”
Nodding slightly, she gazed at him. “Goodnight,” she said softly, her green eyes seeming to see right through him.
Unnerved by the way she was staring at him, Dean shook his head and looked away from her. “Bus heads out at 7AM, so to speak.” With that last comment, he turned and walked back through the connecting door, shutting it quietly and wondering what he had gotten he and Sam into.
***
"You did WHAT?" Sam Winchester stared at his brother in disbelief. It was official. Dean had actually lost his mind this time.
"Sammy, I didn't have a choice," Dean protested, his ears nearly bleeding from the sheer volume of Sam's shouting. Nails on a chalkboard would have been preferable, at this point. "She was gonna up and leave..."
"And so your genius idea is to bring her along with us?"
Dean refused to be bullied by his younger brother, so he glared at him. "Seemed like a good idea, man. What's your problem, anyway? It's not like she isn't familiar with what we do."
Sam stared at him in disbelief. "Dean, what we do is...dangerous! You wanna put some girl in that kind of situation just because you have a little crush on her?"
It was his turn to stare in disbelief. "A crush? Wha --? Dude, I seriously think you've lost your mind."
He snorted. "No, that'd be you. I'm not the one who invited some complete stranger along with us on the road while we hunt down all the monsters in the country."
Staring hard at Sam, Dean grunted. "Something tells me Chloe would be able to help us."
"Yeah, because she's all of what...ninety pounds?"
"Been taking her measurements, have you?" Dean asked suggestively, smiling at Sam unexpectedly. He somehow knew she weighted a little more than that. She was way too curvy to be that light.
Sam glared at him. "No. My head's in the job." He motioned toward the adjoining door with his injured hand. "You really wanna be the one to put her in harm's way? Because I don't. It's the reason I kept Jessica out of all this to begin with!"
Glaring back, daggers shooting from his eyes, Dean retorted, "And you lost her, Sam. If you'd have told her, she might still be alive." He saw Sam turn red with anger as he brutally shoved Dean against the wall.
"You have no right," he whispered, tears stinging his eyes as he glared at Dean.
Chloe cleared her throat as she stood in the now open doorway between their rooms, her green eyes filled with concern.
Getting up with a grunt, Dean didn't see Chloe at first. "All I'm saying, bro, is maybe Chloe can..." His voice died as he saw her standing there, looking at them both.
She gazed at him intently, then shifted her gaze to Sam wordlessly.
Sam glanced over at Chloe, feeling a little remorse for doubting her but too pissed at Dean's remark to care much. "Sorry if we woke you up," he said in an even but flat voice.
Chloe was silent for a moment. "It's okay. I wasn't asleep," she said just as evenly. "When you have a minute, can we talk?" She looked back at Dean.
Sam threw a hateful glare in Dean's direction. "He's got time now. I'm taking a walk." Before Dean had a chance to say anything, he strode to the front door and opened it, slamming it hard behind him.
Running a hand through his short hair, he frowned and looked at Chloe. "Seems I got the time. What's up?" he asked, knowing what she was going to ask. He forced himself to calm down.
She gazed at him. "Sam doesn't want me to come." It wasn't a question.
"No, he doesn't," Dean said. "Sam doesn't think I should have asked you. Thinks that... Well..." He stopped, not wanting to offend her but still trying to grasp what exactly Sam was trying to tell him.
"That I'd be a burden and slow you down and put you all in more danger than you're already in since I'm a girl and clearly know nothing about how to defend myself."
He gulped. It was like she had read his mind. "Basically," he replied. "But that's HIS opinion, Chloe. Not mine."
She drew in a breath, her eyes dark with emotion. "Look, I appreciate everything...and it was a nice offer. It's probably best if I just head out on my own from here." There was resolve in her voice.
Dean immediately shook his head. "No way," he said. "Where you gonna go, anyway?" His eyes met hers with an intensity that matched her own.
Chloe shrugged a little. "Not like it matters a lot. I'll find someplace."
"That's exactly the problem," he retorted with a frown. "Think you stand a chance on your own with everything you know about freaks and evil spirits?"
"More than someone who knows nothing about it," she answered, folding her arms across her chest and lifting her chin a little. "I don't need protection."
"Yeah, cause you got the Girl Power, that it?" he demanded harshly, his eyes hard with a determined glint.
Her jaw tensed and her eyes narrowed into a glare. "About as much as you have of the macho jackass syndrome," she said just as harshly.
"Hey, I've worked hard to get that macho jackass syndrome," he snapped with anger, before he stopped and looked away. "I'm sorry," he whispered, actually regretting his snarky comeback.
"Yeah, and I've worked hard not to be the damsel in distress in the recent past," she said quietly, the tiredness seeping back into her voice.
Scuffling his foot on the carpet, he kept his head down. "You're no damsel in distress," he replied in a low voice. "Getting into the car with two strange, though good-looking, guys? That takes guts." He snuck a look in her direction and smiled.
"Well, you weren't throwing off any 'going to kill' me type vibes so I figured what the hell," she said wryly, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"Good to know," Dean replied, the smile still on his face. "Please. Stay and hang out. Sam... He'll come around." He briefly thought about Meg and the horrors that came with her. Despite that, however, he honestly believed Chloe might do Sam some good... though not in the same way she could help him.
She didn't understand why he was so insistent that she come with them. It's not like they knew each other. And equally, she didn't understand why she wanted to go with them. But she did. Hesitating, Chloe looked at the floor. "I don't wanna cause problems between the two of you."
Looking away, he thought about all the other issues between Sam and him. Deep down, Dean knew Sam was more angry over John's death than he was about Chloe tagging along with them. "Believe me, you're not a problem," he replied softly. "You'd be safer if you stuck with us."
He was right, of course. If there was trouble, it was drawn to her like steel to a magnet. And vice versa. And it wasn't like she had anyone to watch her back without them. Not anymore. A flicker of anger passed over her face, followed by one of intense sadness. They were both gone just as fleetingly as they'd appeared. "I wanna talk to him."
Dean frowned. He knew there was a lot more going on in her mind than she was revealing. Whatever thoughts were haunting her was nearly as bad as Sam's guilt over Jess's death a year ago. "He's in anger mode right now," he replied. "Better to let him cool down a little." And that might take awhile, he mused silently.
She shrugged a little. "All right."
Looking at her, he smiled lazily again. "Alright." An awkward silence settled between them, which only unnerved Dean more.
"I guess I should..." She motioned to her room, not quite meeting his eyes.
"Yeah," he told her, glancing at her briefly. "You want me to get you when Sam gets back?"
"If you think he's safe to talk to then," she said with a faint smile that didn't come close to reaching her eyes.
"One thing about Sam. He likes those chick flick conversations. Really pisses me off sometimes," Dean growled. "He'll be ready to talk by the time he gets back."
She suppressed a chuckle. "Good to know."
"Huh. For you, maybe," he muttered, looking at the door and wondering where the hell Sam was.
Chloe grinned. "I'll see you in awhile." She started to head for the door.
"Chloe?" Dean asked, turning to look at her.
"Yeah?" She paused and turned to look back at him.
"Glad to have you along." A genuinely friendly smile crossed his lips.
Her eyes sparkled and she offered him a warm smile in return. "Glad to be here," she said softly.
"Better stop looking at me like that," Dean warned playfully. "Might give a guy... ideas."
She was more than a little taken aback at his words. Was he actually flirting with her? She raised her eyebrows, still grinning. "Maybe that's what I wanna do," she said before she could stop herself. Winking at him, she turned and disappeared into her own room.
Watching the door close behind her, Dean couldn't help but smile, a wicked yet knowing glint in his eye. Having Chloe along was definitely going to be an adventure he'd never forget.