Chapter 1

"Jesus Sammy, you smell like a freakin' sewer."

"Really Dean? You might want to take a whiff of yourself because you're not smelling so fresh either."

Sam and Dean Winchester had just defeated yet another big nasty, a Wendigo, that had led them on a chase deep into the woods and then into drainage ditch full of a whole other big nasty that they didn't even want to think about. In the end the Wendigo met its end and the Winchester boys managed to get out alive and in one piece.

"Yeah, maybe so," Dean responded, "but neither of us is setting foot in my baby with all this crap all over us." Crap, in the literal sense of the word. They were surrounded by cow pastures and he was pretty sure they'd taken a tumble into some cow manure.

Sam rolled his eyes at his big brother's back.

"I saw that," said Dean, knowing all too well how is brother would react. But his much revered Chevy Impala was his baby. Really not so much a car as it was an extension of himself.

Sam shook his head again in disbelief, "Dude, what the hell are we supposed to do then? We're stuck in the middle of nowhere in case you haven't noticed!" He gestured wildly with his hands. He was tired, hungry, wet, caked with God knows what, and so over it.

Dean stopped mid-stride in the middle of a rural Pennsylvania back road in the middle of freaking nowhere. It was getting dark too. He threw his hands up in defeat.

"Well, we're going to have to improvise," he grumbled.

Sam snorted. Duh.

They walked the two miles back to the car without talking, the silence punctuated by Dean's occasional muttered curses. Sam couldn't help but smile at his brother's irritation.

Dean was thinking of ways to keep his baby clean and the fact that he was in desperate need of a scalding hot shower. When they finally approached the car Dean let out a grateful sigh. Right where I left her. He silently inspected her for any damage. There was no one around for miles, but one couldn't be too careful. He unlocked the trunk and pulled out all the old rags and towels he could find.

"Here," he said as he handed Sam a fistful of towels, "wipe off as much as you can, and lay one down on the seat." Sam rolled his eyes, but did as he was asked. He was annoyed, but he didn't have a death wish.

After a few minutes they were finally on their way. Sam stretched his long legs out in front of him. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Maybe he could get a quick nap in before they found civilization again. Dean started up the engine, smiling as his baby roared to life. Man, it's always good get back behind the wheel again.

It was a good couple of hours before Dean found a decent place to stop for the night. He didn't think he was going to be able to take the trip for another minute. The foul smell had become overpowering and he'd rolled down all the windows to air out the car. It was also cold outside, despite it being May. All in all he was pretty damn miserable.

Through it all Sam hadn't even so much as blinked an eye. He'd knocked out a few minutes into the drive and hadn't stirred since. Dean looked over at him. Poor kid must be exhausted. He wasn't surprised. Ever since Jessica had been killed he'd been running on all cylinders. Maybe he thought the busier he kept himself, the less opportunity he had to really deal with her loss. Dean wasn't sure how he'd managed it for this long.

Dean got a room and found a parking spot right out front of the door. He elbowed Sam in the ribs.

"Nap time's over little brother. We're here."

"Where's here?" Sam asked, his voice groggy with sleep.

"We're a couple of hours outside of Philly," he answered. His stomach growled. Mmm, a Philly Cheesesteak sounds really good right about now. First things first though, "I call dibs on the shower!" he blurted out.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Sam grabbed his bag from the backseat and followed Dean into the room. It wasn't too bad. Two beds and a small kitchenette. It at least looked clean, which was more than could be said for some of the dives they'd stayed in.

Dean had already started the shower running before Sam had even closed the door. "Hurry up," said Sam, not wanting to spend another minute in his nasty clothes.

"Keep your panties on princess, I'll be as fast as I can," he called out from the shower.

Sam started stripping out his grimy clothes, rolling them up into a ball and tossing them into the trash can. No use trying to save those. He sat down in a chair, clad in his boxers, his feet tapping impatiently on the floor. He was about damn near ready to join Dean in the shower, when his brother finally stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel.

"All yours sunshine."

Sam made a beeline for the bathroom. Dean chuckling as he shoved by him.

Dean quickly dressed. His stomach wasn't going to wait anymore. He stuck his head in and around the bathroom door. "Hey Sammy, I'm heading out to get some food, I'll be back soon," he called out.

"Yeah, alright, make it good man."

"Dude, no promises. I'm not sure that they'll have any of your hippie granola crap."

Sam stuck his hand out of the shower and flipped him the bird.

Dean laughed at him as he grabbed his keys and wallet and headed out the door.

Sam took a deep breath after he heard the door slam shut. He stood under stream of hot water, his muscles relaxing. It felt good to be clean finally. He was so exhausted he could barely hold a thought. And to him that wasn't a bad thing. After a short while the water started to turn cold and he reluctantly stepped out of the shower.

Dean wasn't back yet, so he sprawled out on the bed and turned on the television, flipping through channels until he settled on Court TV. He quickly grew impatient and got up and grabbed the laptop from his bag. Opening it up, he began looking for their next gig.

Before Sam could get too far into his research he heard someone at the door. He tensed up for a moment until he saw Dean walk in, several bags in his hands.

Dean frowned when he saw that Sam was on the computer. Already looking for our next job. He really thought the kid needed a break. Dean had always been one to keep busy, but he was worried about his little brother. They could at least use a day or two off.

"Here," said Dean, handing Sam a brown bag, "I did the best I could."

Sam opened the bag and pulled out a large salad, dressing on the side. It at least looked edible, if not entirely appetizing. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Dean sat at the small table next to the window and opened up his Styrofoam container, smiling at his bacon cheeseburger and fries. He reached over and grabbed the remote from Sam, snorting when he saw that the television was on Court TV. He flipped through the channels until he found one where a bunch of scantily clad women were running around on a beach somewhere. Now that's what I'm talking about.

Sam shook his head at his brother. Oh, how the littlest things made him so happy. Sometimes, he really was such a child.

They ate in a comfortable silence, until Sam heard the buzzing of his cell phone vibrating on the motel dresser. "Crap," he muttered. He'd forgotten to turn his cell phone back on and check for messages. When he grabbed the phone and flipped it open he noticed three missed calls all from the same number and a voicemail. He didn't recognize the number, but he did recognize the area code, and there was only one person he knew it could be.

Dean noticed Sam's frown. "What? What is it?"

"Laney," Sam answered as he pressed the button to play the voicemail. As he listened his face went from curious to worried.

"What's wrong?" asked Dean, throwing down his cheeseburger and walking over to stand in front of him, his hand reached out to grab the phone, but Sam pushed it away.

Sam turned the speaker phone on and replayed the message, "Listen."

A young woman's voice came through the speaker. "Hi, my name is Kathleen. Uh, we met back when classes started. I'm Laney's resident advisor. I tried calling Laney's father a few times over the last week or so, but I haven't gotten any response." No surprise there, thought Sam bitterly. "Anyway, I got this number from Laney's file, it said not to use it unless it was a real emergency, which I'm not sure it is an emergency but-

"Oh, Jesus lady get to the point!" yelled Dean at the phone.

"Shh," hissed Sam.

"Well, we're all worried about her, it seems she hasn't been in any of her classes in the last few weeks, and she seems off..." her voice trailed off before it picked up again, "anyway, if you can call me back at this number we can talk more. I'm not sure who else to try at this point. Thanks." The phone clicked off.

"That's it, we need to get on the road to Massachusetts, like now." Dean said as he paced about the room grabbing and throwing clothes into his bag.

Sam nodded in agreement. There would be no argument from him. "I'm going to try Lane's cell." Dean stopped what he was doing and waited for Sam to make the call.

Sam held his breath as her phone rang. Come on, come on, answer the phone. His eyes closed when he got her voicemail. When she got to the end of the greeting he spoke, "Hey Laney, its Sam, call me back as soon as you get this message, okay? Haven't heard from you in awhile and I'm just thinking about you, okay? Love you."

"Voicemail," said Sam, looking at Dean. His worried expression mirroring his own.

"Get your shit together Sammy, we're leaving right now."

Dean was halfway out the door.

"Dean, calm down a second," said Sam. He knew all too well that Dean was going to ride off half-cocked without knowing all the facts, without stopping to think that there might be a logical explanation to all of this. This was their little sister, but if they stormed in guns drawn to save the day, and nothing was wrong, she was going to be pissed.

"Maybe she's just skipping school because she's mad at us…you know, we did miss her birthday. We promised to visit and it's been like 6 months now…maybe she's just acting out." Laney had turned 17 just over a month ago and they had promised to be there. Then their father, out of the blue, had sent them a sign of life and texted some coordinates that had them on a wild goose chase for the last month until they'd ended up tracking a Wendigo through Pennsylvania farmland. All that, and still no Dad.

Dean gave Sam a so-what look and started throwing Sam's stuff into his bag for him. "I don't care if she's having a temper tantrum or really bad case of PMS. We're going!" he exclaimed, shaking his head at his brother in disbelief.

Sam sighed, his eyes rolling up to the ceiling. "Let's call the resident advisor back and see what she can tell us," he said slowly as if speaking to a child.

Dean nodded his head okay. "Fine." He stood in the doorway, his body tensed as if ready for battle. It wasn't like Laney to be childish. He knew her too well. Hell, he'd pretty much raised her. His spidey senses were tingling. And he was pissed that his brother was trying to be so freaking logical.

Sam breathed a sigh of relief when he got a live person on the phone. He looked over at Dean. "Yeah, hi, is this Kathleen?"

Sam nodded his head and activated the speaker phone. "This is Laney Winchester's brother, Sam, and I've got Dean on the line too, I have you on speaker. We just got your message. What's going on?"

"I'm not really sure," she answered.

Dean gritted his teeth in frustration.

"She's just been acting strange," she continued.

Sam swallowed hard.

"Strange, like how?" demanded Dean.

"It's like she just dropped off the planet. She was pretty involved in activities around here and now she doesn't participate at all. She's been missing her classes, barely comes out her room, and when she does…she…well…she just looks terrible."

Dean ran his hands through his hair, "Damn" he muttered. It was killing him not being there and not knowing what was going on.

"Look," continued Kathleen after a short pause, "I've seen it before where the new students come in and at first their okay, but then the pressure of being here kicks in and they start missing home and sometimes they get really depressed, and they just can't handle it…but Laney just didn't really seem the type. I mean, I don't know her that well, but I just didn't that vibe from her."

"Is she there now? In her room?" asked Sam. Maybe he could get her on the phone and hear her voice. He'd be able to tell in an instant if something was really up.

"I don't know…I knocked on her door awhile ago and got no answer."

Sam sighed and shot his brother a worried glance.

"Well, we're on our way now," said Dean who started walking out the door, Sam following behind, "we'll be there in five or six hours…just call us if anything …if anything else happens."

"Yeah, sure."

"Oh and don't tell her we're coming," said Sam, ignoring Dean's confused look.

"Uh...okay."

"Thanks." Sam hung up the phone and got into the passenger seat of the Impala. He didn't want Laney tipped off to their arrival. He didn't know what was up, but whatever it was, it didn't seem like she wanted her brothers to know about it and he didn't want her to decide to take off.

Dean revved up the engine and peeled out the parking lot like a bat out of hell, a look of steely determination on his face; a look that Sam knew all too well. He was on a mission and nothing was going to stop him.