Chapter 1: Going to California

Through chaos as it swirls

It's us against the world

~Coldplay

The street lights flashed by overhead as a black Impala roared down the surprisingly near-empty highway just outside of New Orleans, Louisiana. Inside the car, Dean Winchester used the steering wheel as a fake drum set with one hand, jamming out to Led Zeppelin's Babe I'm Gonna Leave You while his passenger slept curled up in a ball beside him. His passenger was Campbell Winchester, usually known as Elle. Elle was Dean's baby sister. Well, she wasn't quite so little anymore being twenty-one and all, but he would never tell her that. After all, it was his job to look after her. Always had been always would be, as long as he had a say in the matter.

Dean and Elle had just finished up their job in New Orleans, dealing with some pain-in-the-ass vengeful spirit. They were now headed across the country toward Stanford. They needed Sam for their next gig. It didn't matter that things had turned sour with the other Winchester sibling four years ago nor that they hadn't really heard from him. The truth was, they needed Sam. But Dean hadn't told Elle that detail quite yet. He knew she would probably overreact and try to talk him out of it. But he had a gut feeling about this one.

The reason Dean hadn't been upfront with Elle about their new job was because it wasn't really one of their normal jobs. The task at hand involved looking for their missing father. Neither he nor Elle had been able to get ahold of their father for the past couple days and that worried him. But given their line of work, it was totally understandable. Hence, the road trip to get Sammy. They were going to need all hands on deck if they intended on finding John Winchester. That was just the family business. Their family business wasn't exactly normal, well, unless one considered hunting demons, ghosts, and anything else of the supernatural persuasion normal. But it was the Winchester way of life. The only life they really knew.

Elle slowly rolled to her other side, facing Dean. With her eyes barely open, she squinted at her older brother, trying to process where she was and what they were doing. She attempted to say something to her brother, but her voice was drowned out by Dean's Led Zeppelin jam. When Dean realized she was trying to talk to him, he turned the music down. "You said somethin'?" Dean said as he flashed a grin toward his sister.

"How much farther until the motel?" Elle asked hoarsely, glancing outside, confused by her surroundings...or rather, the lack thereof.

"We're not goin' back there. I—um—I already found us another job."

Elle raised an eyebrow suspiciously at her brother. She could tell he was hiding something, but she wasn't quite sure what. She fidgeted in her seat before she asked, "When did you have time to find one?"

Dean shrugged his shoulders and drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, clearly trying to play it cool. "Sometime after burnin' the body and before you woke up, I guess."

"I wasn't sleeping." Elle pouted a little as she shifted in her seat with her arms folded over her chest. "I was just sitting there with my eyes closed."

"Oh, that's what that was. Huh. I probably should have told my paid lady friend to be quieter then." Dean shot his sister a wink.

Elle's eyes widened. "That's disgusting! You did that with me in here?" She quickly looked back at the backseat and grimace. She then punched her brother in the arm, but Dean only laughed at her pathetic response.

"You punch like a girl."

"I am a girl! And there's no way you had a lady friend in here...no way...at least, I don't think you did." Elle's brow furrowed remembering a time when she actually had been in the car and Dean had someone over for extracurricular activities.

Dean chuckled. He had been thinking the same thing as Elle. Of course, he hadn't realized that Elle was in there at the time. He was a little too preoccupied to check the front seat while making use of the back. But that didn't mean he couldn't have some fun messing with his sister. "If you were actually awake you'd know if I did or if I didn't, now wouldn't you?"

Elle groaned and rolled her eyes. "Fine, I was asleep. Happy?"

"Ecstatic. And FYI, there was no curbside lady in the backseat." Dean then glanced over to his sister and smirked. "At least not quite yet. I'll be sure to let you know when Baby's occupied."

The Winchester girl placed her hands over her ears. "Ew. Perv."

Dean smiles before he reached across to ruffle his sister's dark hair. Elle's reaction made him laugh as she scrunched her face and then swatted at his hand. He then withdrew his hand and placed it back on the wheel. Elle tried to smooth her hair back into place, but the bedhead she already had from sleeping made things much more difficult. She unbuckled her seatbelt and turned around to grab her messenger bag from the backseat. With a firm yank, her bag went flying to the front seat. It was like an art form she had perfected.

Elle began to rummage through her bag. Most of its contents wouldn't typically be found in a girl her age's bag. The salt rounds, the bottle of holy water, and a rod made out of pure iron definitely wouldn't qualify her for normal, but the compact mirror she pulled out at least gave her some sense of normalcy for a girl her age. She opened the compact mirror to examine her pathetic appearance, not having showered since yesterday...before her run-in with a vengeful spirit being earlier that day.

The Winchester girl's strikingly blue eyes looked back at her as she looked over the scratches and newly formed bruises on her face. She bit her bottom lip in contemplation. Being bait always came with a risk. Always. She was just thankful that Dean had salted and burned that damn ghost's bones before it had managed to do something worse to her. It had happened before...but she trusted Dean. She trusted him with her life.

With a sigh, she dropped the compact mirror back in her bag before she put her seatbelt back on and stretched out. Elle plopped her Cookie Monster socked feet on the dashboard, knowing full-well Dean was going to give her crap for it, but she did it anyway. Three. Two. One. Just as expected Dean looked at his sister with a stink eye. Elle responded with an eye roll of her own before Dean began swatting at her legs. "Get your smelly ass feet off my baby."

"My feet don't smell." Elle groaned and removed her feet, but sat cross-legged on the seat beside him just to spite her brother. She slowly reached one of her feet toward her brother until it brushed against him.

Dean grabbed her foot and pushed it to the floor. "Have you taken a whiff of them recently?"

"I think you might be mistaking my feet for your feet. Besides, even if my feet smelled they don't even begin to compare to…"

"Sammy's feet," Dean chuckled shaking his head. "Good lord, I swear he bathed his feet in onions, garlic, urine, and sweaty gym socks. Those puppies reeked." He went silent for a moment before he added, "And for the record, your feet do smell."

Elle rolled her eyes in her brother's direction again. Dean may give her crap most the time, but that was the nature of their relationship and she wouldn't change it for anything. Besides, Elle Winchester could give back just as well as she got and Dean knew it.

She sighed, Dean had always been the one to take care of her. Even when she was younger, it had always been Dean looking after her. He was just old enough to take on that role for her. He had taught her how to ride a bike, how to drive a car, and of course, hunting and ganking the supernatural. In most senses of the word, Dean was more like a father to her than a brother. Sometimes, Elle couldn't help but wonder if that role had been forced on Dean or one he had chosen willingly. But sometimes, it was hard for him to switch back and forth between brother mode and father mode-something she knew he shouldn't have had to do in the first place. Her relationship with Dean at times quite contrasted her relationship with her other brother.

Looking out the window once more, she couldn't help but feel some contempt toward Sam. He had just up and left them… he had left her. Something that she had never expected to happen. Whereas Dean had been like a father, Sam had been her best friend and she took him abandoning them quite hard. But the situation Sam had put her in that night hadn't made the situation any easier. Sam had wanted her to go with him to California and deep down, she had desperately wanted to go with him. But like Dean, one of her fatal flaws was that she also had a misguided sense of family honor. She had been so torn that night between going with Sam or staying with Dad and Dean. She had known that either way, someone else was going to get hurt and it wasn't fair of him to spring that on her.

Elle had never voiced her reason to stay. Not to anyone. Ever. Sometimes, she tried to keep the truth from herself. She figured that she should keep her real reason buried, otherwise the flaw in her logic could easily be pointed out and it was common knowledge that once there was a crack in the foundation, the building would eventually come crashing down. Those kind of emotions were deadly to a hunter. Compartmentalizing was a hunter's best friend.

With a sigh, Elle ran her fingers through her long brown hair when her stomach began to growl. She looked peripherally to Dean to see if he had noticed. Dean laughed at and made some dumb joke before he promised they would stop for a burger at the first exit they found.

Ten minutes later, Elle was practically devouring her burger in Dean's car as they sat in the parking lot. God, she had missed having a good burger. Dean claimed that she ruined the masterpiece by putting French fries on it as a condiment, but Elle couldn't care less what Dean thought about it. She liked it and that was all that mattered, right?

Beside her, Dean too was shoveling his food down his gullet so that they could get back on the road. Wherever they were going, it must be urgent, Elle mused. Originally, Dean had wanted to eat while he drove, but Elle persuaded him not to. And by persuaded she meant that she whined about the one time they almost went into the ditch while he was eating Taco Bell. Of course, he couldn't have helped it. There really isn't a good way to eat a taco while driving. And besides, to accuse him of ever purposely trying to harm his baby was obscene.

Dean shoved a handful of fries in his mouth before he slurped it down with his soda. Although, it was pretty obvious that he would give anything to have a beer right about now. Dean finished eating before Elle did. He shoved his wrappers back into the McDonald's bag that sat between him and his sister. He then put the car into drive before driving out of the out of the parking lot, while his sister continued to eat.

As he pulled back onto the highway, he glanced over at his sister curiously. She had been rather quiet and judging from the expression on her face, Dean knew whatever she was thinking couldn't be good. So, he attempted to distract her. "Why don't you give Dad a call when you're done eatin', kay?" Dean said smoothly.

Elle looked up at her brother, her blue eyes shimmering in the dark car. "He's not going to answer, Dean," she responded between bites of her cheeseburger.

Dean shrugged his shoulders. "Doesn't hurt to try, Elle-Belle," he said more for the sake of argument, knowing full-well she strongly disliked that nickname. He knew John Winchester wasn't likely to answer, but it was all he could think of doing right now.

"We've been trying." Elle brought her feet up onto the seat and her knees to her chest, curling herself into a ball.

"We'll just have to try harder." Dean knew this wasn't going well...she hadn't even finished her burger, but sometimes his sister could just be plain stubborn.

Elle scoffed. "And how exactly does one try harder? That expression doesn't make any sense. Where does it even come from anyway? Remind me to put that on my list of phrases not to use because they don't make any damn sense. Then again, I should probably start said list because it doesn't actually exist yet."

"Elle!" Dean snapped. "Just do it, dammit. Just call Dad."

Elle looked over to her brother suspiciously, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she nibbled at one of her fries as Dean began humming to another Led Zeppelin song on another one of his damn tapes. While she could appreciate Dean and her dad's music, it wasn't her particular favorite. No, Dean would relentlessly mock her for the type of music she liked to listen to. Then again, he mocked anyone who didn't have his taste in music.

Recognizing that she wasn't going to do it without more prompting, Dean handed his little sister his cell phone. She grudgingly accepted his phone, despite having her own phone, not that she regularly used her own phone for much. Elle angrily flipped open her brother's phone. Elle and Dean both knew that if John Winchester was going to answer anyone's call, it would be Dean's call...not hers. Although that could be another reason that Dean was having her use his phone, Elle mused.

But Dean was seemed to be forgetting the fact that John Winchester hadn't answered any phone calls for days. That should have been a flashing neon sign saying something to them. But Elle hit re-dial on the phone anyway. Not surprisingly, it went straight to voicemail. She quickly ended the call and tossed Dean's phone back at him. "Surprise, surprise," Elle spit cynically. "Voicemail. No point in me leaving one."

Dean knew better than to say anything when his sister got like this, but that didn't stop him from being sorely tempted. He chewed on his cheek to keep him from saying anything stupid. After a few minutes and a bloody cheek later, Elle was the first to speak. But she changed the subject to one Dean wasn't prepared for Mom.

Elle shifted uncomfortably as she looked at her brother. "Dean, what was Mom like?" she asked rather innocently.

"Wh—what?" Dean stammered glancing at his sister, rubbing the inside of his cheek with his tongue.

The Winchester girl played with her hands, glancing down at the floor, almost embarrassed to have even asked. "Mom?" she muttered before looking back at him again. "You know the woman who—"

Dean put his hand up to stop her from finishing. "I know who Mom is, Elle-Belle."

"Well, tell me something about her." Elle folded her arms across her chest and stared at her brother.

Dean thought she looked so young and almost childlike in that moment. But he wasn't sure if he was ready for this conversation. He wasn't even that old when their mother burned to death. So, that's what he told his sister. "It's not like I remember much. I was only four when she—"

"Please?"

Elle's pleading and her damn puppy dog eyes were causing his barriers to crumble. "Um—well—let's see here. She had blonde hair and blue eyes—"

"C'mon, I already know that from the picture you have. Something else. Please?"

Dean shook his head and slapped the steering wheel with his right hand. "Son-of-a-bitch Elle, you didn't even give me a chance to finish what I was saying."

Elle threw her head back and groaned. "Sorry!" She stayed quiet for a moment before continuing with a slight smirk playing on her face, "And for the record, I think I'd technically be labeled as a daughter-of-a-bitch. Just saying."

"Yeah, yeah,again-what'syeah. Whatever you say." Dean glanced at his little sister. She was almost always able to bring humor into any situation, even as self-deprecating as it was, but it was one of the things he admired about her. Dean drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. "Now, where was I...right, as I was saying you have her eyes. Same shade and everything."

Although, what Dean didn't tell her was that was one of the reasons John couldn't stand to look Elle in the eyes. He didn't want to do that to her. Dean nodded his head. "So...yeah."

"And?" Elle asked, leaning forward wanting to know more.

"And what?"

"And that's all you're going to tell me? What about what was her favorite color? Or her favorite flower? Her favorite song? Favorite dessert? There are just too many questions that I haven't gotten any answers to. I'm twenty-one years old and I think I deserve to know something about my mother. Something that I can't get from looking at a picture of her."

Dean raised an eyebrow curiously at his sister. "What's with twenty questions about Mom all a sudden?"

"I—I don't know," was all she offered.

The older Winchester shot his sister a slightly disapproving glance. He knew his sister better than to buy that. "I know for a fact that's a lie, so let's try this again. What's with the twenty questions about Mom?"

"I—I just want to know her so bad, Dean. I always have. I never got to know her. She never even got to hold me. I-I just want to know if she'd like me. If she would be proud of me. But sometimes I can't help but wonder if I'm as big of a disappointment to her as I am to Dad."

There it was, the truth; the elephant in the room—well, car, technically. Dean exhaled slowly trying to carefully calculate a response to his sister's revelation. He knew she had building up something against their father for years, but this was one of the first times she had ever voiced anything about it. "You're not a disappointment to Dad," he said trying to reassure her.

Elle snapped her fingers at him. "Don't try and placate me."

"You know better than to use the big fancy words with me when I'm trying to help you. School wasn't my thing and I was never college material."

"Neither was I. I didn't even try to apply for colleges because I thought it would make Dad happy, especially after Sam. But it didn't. Nothing I do ever makes him happy. Ever. Everything I've done with my life has never been enough for him. I just can't do enough for that man. Do you know that never once in my life do I remember him telling me that he loved me? Not once, Dean. That's weird."

"Elle, Dad's just Dad. It's nothing to get all wound up over."

Elle shook her head. "You don't get it Dean. I see the way Dad looks at you. Hell, even Sam, whom he said he never wanted to see again. He doesn't look at me like that. He looks at me like I'm some sort of abomination from hell that doesn't deserve to live. It's like he's always waiting for the other shoe to drop with me or something. For once in my life, I just want to be enough and for him to say the oh-so scary L word."

Dean sighed. "I promise you that when we find him, you'll get whatever it is you've been looking for. I'll make sure of it. First things first, we kinda actually need to find him."

She wasn't sure that she believed Dean's words, but she knew that Dean believed them and when Dean set his mind to something, he did something about it no matter what the consequences. He had proved his loyalty time and time again. Whatever he did, it was always in the best interest of their family, no matter how stupid. Despite his rough exterior, her brother was a softy on the inside, as far as she was concerned. Although Dean would never 'fess up to that.

Elle could practically feel her brother's eyes on her, waiting for her to respond. If he was going along with it for her sake, then she might as well too. She nodded her head and then asked, "So, what's this plan of yours?"

"Remember that job I was talkin' about?"

There was something in his tone that gave away that there was more to this than he originally let on. She eyed her brother curiously. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, the job kinda involves picking Sammy up."

Elle slowly blinked her eyes, processing what he said before she responded. "Kinda or it actually does? There's a big difference between the two, Dean."

Dean glanced at his sister before looking back at the road ahead. "We need Sammy on this one, Elle. I just feel it."

Elle couldn't help but scoff. There was no way in hell that Sam was going to go with them. He had his perfect apple pie life at Stanford. A life that she quite often envied, to be honest. But she knew what Dean was thinking. In order to find Dad, it was going to take the three of them putting their heads together and working alongside each other. Even though his hunting skills might be a little rusty, Sam was pretty damn intelligent and a third set of eyes to discover whatever John Winchester had been up to couldn't hurt.

She understood his plan, but that didn't mean she liked it or that she thought it was going to work. "You know that he's never going to go for it since he's gone all big-shot Stanford guy now," Elle commented.

"I think you're wrong. This is about Dad. He'll listen to reason and family honor," Dean responded.

"Cute names for your fists, Dean," Elle quickly retorted in her somewhat off-the-wallsense of humor before she bringing herself back to her point. "I just don't think taking Sam on in a wrestling match until he agrees with you is going to work."

"It always worked before," Dean smirked remembering a few other times when that tactic had proved useful.

Elle shook her head. "Yeah, when Sam was like half your size. You're the little brother now."

"Shut up. At least, I'm not as little as you are, Shorty."

"Hey, I'm not short, I'm fun-sized," Elle responded having once seen the slogan on a T-shirt. "But enough about me, you need a better plan for Sammy if you expect to get him to agree to road trip-it with us."

"And what, pray tell, do you suggest?" He scoffed with an obvious helping of sarcasm.

Elle pondered his challenge for a moment. She was usually pretty good at coming up with a sensible plan...at least, compared to Dean's usual plans. After about a minute, she had it. "Alright. How about you let me butter him up a little first? The helpless little sister thing always works on you and if I remember correctly it used to work on him too. "

"Helpless, my ass. Sam would never fall for that...and neither do I. We're not that dumb."

"Oh, really? How much are you willing to bet big brother?" Elle questioned as she held out her hand for Dean to place his wager.

"Not much," Dean muttered with a glance over to his sister, knowing she was probably right. "So what exactly are you going to do that's magically going to get him to come along? Huh?"

Elle smirked at her brother. "Well, I was thinking something along the lines of telling him that I'm fighting with you...again. It was really bad this time and I need a place to crash...that's the helpless little sister part. Then comes your part, you come along and say that we need to go find Dad, yadda, yadda, and I say that I won't go with you unless Sam goes because I can't stand being around your big fat ugly face. Then he's guilted into coming along so that he can keep the peace between us. It's practically perfect."

Dean shook his head. "Believable, I suppose...except the part about my big fat ugly face. My face is adorable."

"You keep telling yourself that."

"I will because it's the truth and you know it."

The conversation between Dean and Elle came to a lull. For the next hundred miles or so they sat in silence, a comfortable silence. That was one thing Elle liked about her relationship with Dean, they didn't always have to be talking to be comfortable with each other. You know, sometimes there are those people in life where you always have to keep them talking in order to know where you stand with them?

Well, being with Dean wasn't that way for Elle. They could ride together for hundreds of miles without uttering a single word to each other and yet, she knew that Dean usually wasn't angry with her. If he was angry with her, his facial expressions gave him away. He wasn't as good at hiding it as she was.

So, as for now, they were both content to sit in the Impala in silence as Elle drifted back to sleep while Dean continued to rock-out to his music. When Elle finally woke up again, they were somewhere in Texas, the seemingly never-ending state. It seemed like everytime they drove through the damn state it seemed to get larger and take longer to travel through.

Elle stretched her arms, glancing at a sign that said the next exit, beside the next one, wouldn't be for another seventy miles. She then looked at her brother who attempted to stifle a yawn. His over-tiredness caused him to accidentally jerk the wheel toward oncoming traffic. Dean and Elle's eyes widened as Dean quickly jerked the wheel the other direction to get them back on their side of the road. The sound of a car's horn passed by them as Dean rubbed at his eyes.

"Pull over, you shouldn't be driving," Elle commanded her older brother.

"I'm fine," Dean grumbled. "Just need to change the music."

"That's not going to work, Dean. We've been up since freaking six a.m. yesterday morning. You're tired. Just admit it."

"This is nothing compared to when—"

"You need some sleep. God forbid that you actually let yourself be human for once."

"I'll just pull over at the next town in a few miles and I can take a little power nap and it will be all good."

Elle shook her head."Shows how well you were paying attention. That last sign back there, before the last exit, said that the next stop isn't for over seventy miles, you loser. Just pull over and I'll drive for a couple of hours."

"But you hate driving."

"True, but if you make me choose between dying or driving, my money's on me choosing driving. Besides, would you prefer to get to Sam's so we can find Dad, or that we become road kill, which would be especially pathetic considering what we do for a living."

Dean remained stubborn with his hands gripped firmly to the wheel. He shifted in his seat, trying to sit up straighter. It was obvious he was trying to keep his eyes open wider to prove that he was awake, despite how tired he felt.

Elle shook her head. She knew how stubborn he could be, but having lived with him her whole life, she also knew his weak spots. "If you're not going to think about my welfare, then at least consider Baby's and how devastated you'd be to see her twisted and smashed frame splattered with my guts. Think of her shattered windshield, with my blood—and dashboard with my gut. Poor Baby with-"

Dean put his hand up to stop her. "I get your point, but quit being so graphic around Baby. You're gonna upset her if you keep talkin' like that and then she ain't gonna work right for you."

Elle rolled her eyes as Dean pulled over to the shoulder of the road rather reluctantly. He looked over to her before tapping the steering wheel. Dean then started to go over all the rules about driving his baby. Honestly, he was the one who had taught her how to drive and with this car nonetheless. He was too overprotective, but then again, if he was this protective over his car it only showed how much more he'd do for his family.

When Dean was done explaining things, things which Elle hadn't paid any attention to, he opened the driver's side door and stepped outside. Elle pulled on her red Converse sneakers before she followed suit and opened the passenger side door. She stepped outside into the breeze and couldn't help but notice the stars illuminating the night's sky.

She pulled her sweatshirt tighter around her body as she stared up at the immensity above. There was something about the night sky that intrigued her. Something that made her feel protected and safe. It sounded stupid, but that was how she felt.

Elle tore her eyes away from the sky when she heard Dean's footsteps crunching in the gravel. His figure drew closer and closer to her, easily towering over her. Compared to both of her brothers, Elle was tiny. Both of them were well over six feet tall, while she reached five feet two inches on a good day...if she rounded...and was wearing the right shoes. She smirked. Rounding, she chuckled to herself. At least something from third grade math came in handy every once in awhile.

Elle stretched herself to her full height when her brother stopped beside her. Dean held the keys out in front of her which she snatched from his hand. Normally, she'd have some sort of witty retort about him actually handing the keys over to her, but she didn't want to press her luck. Dean needed some sleep, not to mention that she didn't want to die on the freaking highway.

She adjusted her blue plaid shirt underneath her sweatshirt before she walked over to the driver's side. As she looked through the window, she could see Dean practically sulking. But she knew that he knew she was right...if that made any sense. She chuckled at her brother and slid onto the seat. Part of the reason she knew Dean hated her driving was because she had to readjust every little thing, including the seat which drove Dean nuts. She was short, so she needed the seat closer to the wheel which gave Dean very little legroom.

When Elle had finished adjusting the rearview mirror she turned toward her brother. "So now what do I do?" Elle asked innocently, biting her bottom lip trying to feign nervousness.

"Tell me you're kidding," Dean groaned, his hand moving for the door handle to get out and take the wheel again.

Elle's hand snaked out and grabbed hold of his arm. "Jeez. I'm kidding. Relax. Get some sleep."

Dean looked at his little sister sternly, with his index finger raised. "Just stay on this road and wake me up in exactly two hours. Whatever you do, don't get off this road."

Elle couldn't help but chuckle. "You don't trust me, do you?"

"You're terrible with directions, and even worse when I'm sleeping."

"I'm not that terrible."

Dean raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you remember when we were driving to go gank that ghost in Winona, Minnesota? You took us to Iowa."

The younger Winchester groaned. "I missed one turn and we were still three miles from actually getting into Iowa if you're going to get technical with me. Besides, it wasn't the end of the world."

"Just stay on this road."

Rolling her eyes at her brother, Elle muttered, "Fine."

Elle put the car in drive and carefully maneuvered it onto the empty road. She had driven about five minutes when her hand reached to adjust the radio. She could practically feel Dean's intense glares as she messed with his music, but she stopped fiddling with it when Wake Me Up When September Ends came from the speakers.

She began to sing along to the Green Day song when Dean turned toward her with a peeved expression. She attempted to ignore his glares, but it was futile. "You have gotta be shitting me," Dean growled. "What the hell is this crap?"

"It's Green Day. They've been around for a long time. I figured they'd be a compromise between your music and mine."

"Well, this is shitty music, beyond shitty even. They sold-out and for what? This crap? Change it back."

Elle swatted at his hand as he reached for the dial. "Ah-ah-ah, I don't think so. You're going to follow your own damn rule, that you oh-so-frequently remind me of. Driver picks the music and...hmm...how does that go again?"

Dean shook his head. "Driver picks the music; shotgun shuts his cakehole," he muttered. "But how the hell do you expect me to sleep with this crap on?"

"Peacefully," Elle smirked toward her brother.

"As I bleed from my ears." Dean curled up on his side. His position didn't look comfortable, but Elle wasn't sure his tall frame could find a comfortable position, to begin with.

As another pop song came on the radio, Dean's hands moved over his ears. With a smirk on her face, Elle leaned over and turned the radio off. She would wait until Dean was asleep before she resumed her crappy music jam. Dean seemed to relax more as the car grew silent.

Elle kept her eyes focused on the road as Dean's soft snores began to fill the car. She called Dean's name to make sure that he was out. When he didn't respond, she turned her music station back on but kept the volume turned down fairly low so that today's hits wouldn't wake Dean up.

She had fully intended on letting Dean sleep longer than two hours, but his internal clock must have known when his two hours were up because his eyes fluttered open and he immediately turned Elle's music off. "Pull over. I ain't sleeping to this crap anymore," Dean grumbled.

Elle shook her head before pulled over and they switched back to their original positions, Dean back to driving and Elle back to riding shotgun. The first thing Dean did when he got behind the wheel was change the music. Then he changed the seat, the mirrors, and everything else Elle had changed.

When they crossed the border into California, Elle's stomach began to churn. She had been so confident about her plan to get Sam earlier, but would he even want to see her? It had been complete radio-silence between the two of them since he had left. But more than that, she was stubborn and she wasn't so sure she had forgiven him for that night.

Why did emotions and family have to be so complicated? He was her brother, she should be glad that she was seeing him again, but she couldn't let herself completely go there. Yet, here Dean was, acting like Sam had been gone for nothing more than a weekend fling or something. Elle exhaled slowly. She needed to ignore the feelings that were building up within her. She needed to put on a happy face and push those feelings aside, something that she had already been doing for years. This time shouldn't be any different...or at least she hoped it wouldn't be any different.

Dean interrupted her thoughts when he asked her to pull out a piece of paper with Sam's address out of the glove compartment. Why the hell they called these things glove compartments was beyond her, but nonetheless, she handed Dean Sam's address. "We're close," he grumbled, before calculating the route he wanted to take. After turning down a few more streets, they finally came to a stop.

The Impala shifted into park outside the building where Sam lived. It looked...nice, Elle supposed. Well nice, considering how they had grown up on the road, never staying in one place for long. Nice to have a place to call home. A home, a mother, and her father's love were a few of the only things Elle wanted in life and she was pretty sure she was never going to get any of that. She didn't voice her thoughts aloud though, because while they should have been happy Sammy had gotten out, she knew that both she and Dean (whether he'd admit it or not) were somewhat jealous that he had a home. A place that beat the Impala or a crappy motel any day.

Dean cleared his throat, so Elle turned toward her big brother. "Out you go," he said. "You have one hour to get him in this car before I go barging in there, guns blazing."

"You mean, you're actually letting me do this?" Elle asked in a tone of surprise.

Dean shrugged nonchalantly. "I have to hit the head."

Elle raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Which is going to take an hour?"

"You can't rush digestion," Dean smirked at his sister who rolled her eyes at him.

"You're full of crap."

"Not for long." Dean winked at his sister which caused her to pretend to puke. He laughed. "You walked into that one and you know it."

Elle shoved her brother away from her in disgust before slipping her shoes back on her feet once more. She stretched as she stepped out of the car before she pulled her old blue Jansport messenger style backpack over her head. She slammed the car door shut behind her. Dean awkwardly waved at her with a stupid grin on his face like he was dropping her off at her first day of school but she shooed him to drive away with her hand motions. Surprisingly, he did as he was told.

She stood there for a moment watching the Impala drive away before she shoved her hands in her sweatshirt pockets. Elle then turned to find Sammy's apartment. She hoped she knocked on the right door, otherwise, that could be awkward...not that she had ever done that before. No, never. So, that was a lie, she had experienced that before and it wasn't any fun for her, but she never lived the moment down with Dean.

Elle carefully climbed the stairs until she came to the door to Sam's place. This was it. At least she hoped she was at the right door. She rapped twice on the door before lowering her hand. There was no going back now.

The Winchester girl blew a stray tendril of hair from her face before she decided to throw her long dark hair up into a messy bun. Once her hair was up, there was still no answer at the door. She knocked again, beginning to grow impatient. What if Sam wasn't even here? Maybe he moved and they had the wrong address? Part of her wanted to dash and then whoever was inside could chalk it up to a teenage prank, but she saw a light flicker on.

Moments later the door opened, revealing a girl with long blonde hair dressed in a Smurfs shirt with a toothbrush in hand. "Can I help you?" the blonde girl asked.

"I—um—I don't know," Elle stammered. "I must have the wrong place or something. I was just looking for my brother and clearly, you're not him. So, I'll—uh—I'll just be going."

Elle moved to turn away, but the girl reached out and grabbed her arm. The Winchester girl turned around to find the blonde girl eyeing her up. "Your brother wouldn't be Sam, would it?"

Elle's eyes popped in surprise. "Actually, yeah, his name is Sam. Sam Winchester."

"That must make you, Elle, the infamous little sister." The blonde girl smiled. It was obvious she was teasing Elle. As much as Elle hated to admit it, she was already liking the girl living with Sam...whom she could only rationalize to be his girlfriend.

"Guilty?" Elle said raising her hands in defense.

"Don't worry, you've got the right place. Sam just crawled into bed not too long ago. I was up—well, I think you can see what I was doing," The blonde girl said holding up her toothbrush. "But come on in. I'm sure he'll be really glad to see you. We were actually just talking about you earlier."

Elle muttered to herself, "That's not very reassuring."

The blonde turned and looked at Elle curiously. "What was that?"

The Winchester girl faked a cough. "Nothing. Just had a tickle in my throat."

Sam's girlfriend motioned for Elle to come inside. Elle nodded her head and stepped inside Sam's apartment. The girl smiled. "I'm Jess by the way."

"I'm Elle, but you already know that.'

Jess chuckled as she led Elle a little further inside. She then held up a finger and told Elle, "Just wait here. I'll go get him. He's going to be so surprised."

Elle nodded her head but muttered to herself, "That's one word for it."

Jess disappeared into the back room as Elle stood there awkwardly examining the room she was in. Pictures of Sam and Jess were scattered across the room. They looked happy, genuinely happy. This brought a mixture of happiness for her brother and jealousy. Nowhere did she see a picture of her or Dean. It was almost as if they did not exist. It struck her rather oddly. Did he even miss them?

Elle heard footsteps coming from behind her. She turned to see Sam appear from the back bedroom with a puzzled expression on his face. "Elle?" he asked, trying to figure out whether it was actually his little sister whom he hadn't seen in four years.

She nodded her head and raised her hands, in a what position. "It's me. Surprise."

Next thing she knew, Sam was engulfing her in a bone-crushing hug. She just awkwardly stood there and let her brother hug her while Jess watched from the doorway with a smile on her face. Elle wasn't exactly sure how she wanted to respond.

Thankfully, Jess spoke up before Elle was forced to say something….something she might regret. "Told you so," Jess said playfully to Sam.

Sam looked over his shoulder with a sloppy grin at his girlfriend before he squeezed his sister tight once more and then released her. Elle took a step back from her brother and looked up at him. She had always known that Sam was tall, but he seemed a whole hell of a lot taller than the last time she had seen him. He had to have over a foot of height on her.

Elle offered her brother the best fake-awkward smile that she could and he must have bought it. That or he was just so excited to see her. "Oh my god, Elle. I can't believe you're actually here. What are you doing here?" Sam questioned.

"Dean and I may or may not have had a slight disagreement," Elle stated carefully.

Sam shook his head. He clearly bought her excuse. "A fight? That's just great. About?"

Elle feigned a wince. "Something Dad related."

Sam rolled his eyes before he rubbed his temples. "You know, that's always the case with that man."

The Winchester girl slowly nodded her head. It was the truth, she couldn't deny that. She sighed, "But I don't want to go into that now. Besides, now obviously isn't a good time. I'm interrupting—"

"No, you're not—well, technically you are—but you're welcome here." Sam then turned toward Jess. "She's welcome here, right?"

Jess laughed heartily. "Of course, I've always wanted to meet a member of the mysterious Winchester family that Sam rarely talks about," she responded. "Besides, from the way Sam talks about you...when he actually does...I think we'll get along just fine."

Elle looked at Sam who shrugged his shoulders. Elle was probably the least threatening of the trio Jess hadn't met. Dean often compared her to an annoying little dog: her bark was worse than her bite, but at least she was cute. Or at least that's what she hoped Dean meant by that.

Jess offered to make Elle a sandwich, but the Winchester girl didn't want to impose on the couple. Besides, she needed to get Sam alone so that she could talk to him about her real reason she was there: finding Dad. Not to mention that Dean's outing wasn't going to take him that much longer.

Jess brought a pillow and blanket out and set them on the couch. Too bad Elle wasn't actually going to use them, but she didn't say anything. Jess then excused herself to go to bed not before mentioning something about an LSAT score, then leaving Sam and Elle alone. "Sam—we should talk—"

Sam leaned against the doorframe, with his arms folded across his chest. He nodded his head. "I agree, but I think it should be on some sleep."

"But—" Elle started, but was quickly cut off.

Sam chuckled. "C'mon, what's so important that it can't wait until morning?"

"Well—you see—"

"Morning all right? I'm just so wiped from going out tonight."

Elle looked at her brother curiously. She knew that he never went out on Halloween. It was like his big f-you gesture to everything supernatural. "You went out knowing what day it was?"

"Right? I know you get it." Sam smiled softly at his sister. "But Jess wanted to go out, so I did the good boyfriend thing, you know?"

"I suppose it's more enjoyable when one doesn't know exactly what's out there, huh?"

Sam nodded his head. "That's for sure. I wish I could still be naive about it all, like everyone else I know. Enough about that, though." Sam shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I'm gonna hit the sack. I'll see you in the morning, Elle-Belle."

Elle sighed at the mention of her nickname. She then simply nodded her head, even though she knew that Dean was going to show up before it was morning. And knowing Dean, he was bound to make an entrance. Sam walked away toward the bedroom before he stopped halfway and turned around. "It's really good to see you, Elle. I mean it."

"Yeah, you too, I guess...I mean, given the circumstances."

"I'm still glad you came. I've missed you." Sam smiled at his sister before he turned the lights off and disappeared into the bedroom.

Elle plopped onto the couch and cuddled with the pillow and blanket. She was going to take advantage of it while she had the chance. But just when she had finally found a comfortable position, her phone buzzed with a text message. She groaned as she rolled over to grab her cell phone from the side pocket of her bag. She opened the text message. It was from Dean, the only person who ever texted her.

The text read: Ready or not here i come. And it wasn't long before Elle heard the window jimmy open. Of course, he couldn't use the door like a normal person. Elle shook her head. And of course, he hadn't a clue on how to be quiet. Elle swore the sound of his boots stepping across the floor could wake the dead.

She walked to meet him, but he must not have realized what she was doing because he clomped down on her bare feet with his steel-toed boots. Elle howled in pain as she smacked Dean.

Her scream must have awakened Sam because he shouted from the bedroom, "Elle hold on, I'm coming!"

"This should be fun," Dean chuckled quietly enough for only Elle to hear before she punched him in the arm.

"Don't you dare—" Elle started.

Sam came lumbering into the room, ready to attack. "Get away from her!" the tallest Winchester sibling shouted.

With that, Sam lunged at Dean and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him down. Dean managed to knock Sam's arm away and aimed to strike Sam, who ducked just a few moments before contact. Dean grabbed Sam's arm and swung him around before shoving him back. Sam managed a kick while yelling for Elle and Jess to run, before Dean blocked his kick and pushed him. Sam squinted trying to get a better view of the attacker, whom he still hadn't realized was his brother; but Dean elbowed him in the face.

Elle shouted for the two boys to knock it off, but they weren't finished. Sam attempted a kick at Dean's face, but Dean ducked. Dean tried to swing at Sam, but Sam easily blocked him. Then when Sam wasn't expecting it, Dean knocked him over and pinned him to the floor. One hand is at Sam's throat and the other is holding onto Sam's wrist. "Whoa, easy tiger," Dean said with a grin.

"Dean?" Sam asked in a puzzled tone.

"Are you two done yet?" Elle groaned with her arms folded across her chest. "You're going to wake the neighbors."

Dean laughed and slapped Sam on the shoulder. "You scared the crap out of me, man!" Sam groaned.

"That's 'cause you're out of practice," Dean said. Sam reached for Dean's hand and yanked on it hard before slamming his heel into Dean's back, knocking Dean to the floor. Elle chuckled at the sight. "Or not," Dean said with a smirk playing across his face.

Elle rolled her eyes and looked between her brothers. "Aren't you two just precious," Elle cooed in disgust.

"You shut up," Dean directed toward Elle before turning to Sam. "And you get the hell off of me."

Sam rolled onto his feet before helping Dean off the floor. Dean nodded at Sam, but Sam appeared to be touting a cold and solemn facade. Elle couldn't really figure out what was going on. Why was Sam mad at Dean, but not at her? Then again, why was she angrier at Sam, but not Dean? While she could read Sam's expression and try to decipher her own emotions. She had no idea what the hell was going through Dean's head at this point, which was odd for her

Sam stood there with his arms folded across his chest, impatiently tapping his foot against the floor. "What the hell are you doing here, man?" Sam asked.

Dean smirked one of his infamous stupid smirks that irritated Elle to no end. "Well, I was looking for a beer; but it looks like I got a family reunion instead," Dean responded.

But Sam refused to budge. "What the hell are you doing here?" he repeated.

Dean shook his head and looked at Elle. "You mean, Princess here didn't tell you?" he asked pointing to his little sister. Sam just stared at him. Dean shook his head again. "Why am I not surprised?"

Sam looked rather angrily at Dean. "You have no right to talk about her like that. She told me about you two and how you're being a pain-in-the-ass as usual and she can't stand the sight of your face."

"Did she at least mention that my face is adorable?" Dean grinned and pointed to his face.

Sam took a step toward Dean and snapped. "Cut the crap, Dean! I'm going to ask you for the last time why the hell are you here?"

Dean put his hands up defensively. "Okay. All right. We gotta talk. All three of us."

Dean and Sam started their bickering again, which Elle had no desire to get in the middle of, so she walked toward the kitchen to get a glass of water. As she turned the tap on, Jess made her way into the conversation.

Without even seeing Dean's face, Elle knew that her brother was checking the girl out, especially given the bed clothes she was wearing. Jess made a comment about going to put some more clothes on, but Dean made a cheeky remark about her not needing to. She loved her brother, but God was he a perv.

Elle reached for an apple on the counter beside her which she chucked at Dean's head. She nailed him right on the back of the head. He turned around to glare at her with his hand on the back of his head while Sam managed a laugh. "You were saying?" Elle commented.

"I was saying that I need to borrow this pretty girl's boyfriend and my runaway sister to talk about some private family business," Dean said through gritted teeth before turning toward Jess. "But, uh, nice meeting you."

"No," Sam said sternly. "Whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of her."

Elle shook her head. She was positive Sam wouldn't Jess knowing about this. "Sam, maybe that's not—" she started, but it was Dean who cut her off.

"No, he's right Elle. Besides, she's almost family anyway," Dean said before looking directly at Sam. "Um, here it is. Dad hasn't been home in a few days."

Sam seemed to scoff at Dean. At least Dean had managed to phrase things without giving too much away. He did at least have some tact left. Sam wrapped his arm tighter around Jess before giving Dean a response. "So he's working overtime on a Miller Time shift. He'll stumble back in sooner or later. Always does."

"Sam, it's different this time," Elle added, folding her arms across her chest.

"How?"

"Dad's on a hunting trip and he hasn't been home in a few days," Dean said solemnly.

"Jess, excuse us. The three of us need to go outside. Now," Sam said.

Sam walked into the bedroom and threw on some different clothes. While he was gone, Dean attempted to sweet talk Jess, but she remained immune to the oldest Winchester sibling's charms. Sam must have told her a little about him, because she remained rather aloof toward him, a much different reaction than Elle had received.

The middle Winchester sibling walked back into the main room before he pointed toward the door. "Don't mind if I do," Dean said walking out the door. Elle followed behind and Sam brought up the rear as they descended the metal staircase. Things already felt tense and they had barely discussed much of anything.

Elle sighed, "Whoever said family reunions were supposed to be enjoyable has never met the Winchesters."

Neither Sam nor Dean made a remark. Clearly, things were not going well. Elle just hoped they could put their difference aside for a few days to find Dad, because honestly, they didn't need any more family drama than they were already dealing with.

Author's note: Thanks for reading the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Reviews are always appreciated! :)

Edited 1/21/17