Welcome to my new fic! This is a big switch of pace from my other fic. If you guys are here from Unexpected Circumstances, HIIIII GUYS! :)

This one is going to start in 1970, it's a lot trippier (if that's a word), and I'm so excited to write it. I only hope I can pull it off.

ps. I'm sure you guys can imagine who the man in the dumpster is ;)

Reviews make me write faster so leave a sister some LOVE!

[0100] Wheaton, New Jersey | 1970

I have been looking for you for hundreds of years…sifting through millions of faces, of creatures, until now. Stumbling through space and time for the right person…for you.

I am everywhere and nowhere. A source of limitless power for those who can wield it, and a formidable enemy for those who cannot. The battle has had it's toll on me, and I'm afraid I need your help now more than ever.

Help me, human. Help me!

Elena gasped awake. She struggled to catch her breath, placing a hand over her chest in an attempt to calm her galloping heart. There was a sheen of cold sweat clinging to her forehead, the edges of her hair curling from the humidity. Elena credited that to the nightmare, but the stifling June heat didn't exactly help, either. She raised the back of a clammy hand to her face and tried to get the sticky perspiration off of her.

It had been the fourth time she'd had this dream. Or nightmare. She couldn't really tell what it was these days. Nothing bad happened in the dream. But the way she felt…that was the thing of nightmares. It was like the air in her lungs suddenly turned to water, her limbs to stone, and her mouth welded shut. It was like falling through a crevice and drifting all the way to the bottom of the ocean.

Elena inhaled deeply, as if to remind herself that it was all a bad dream and her lungs were perfectly fine.

A pounding on the metal garage door rattled across the cavernous room. Elena came to her feet sluggishly, fighting off a yawn. The door refused to open for a moment, before giving way with a loud groan. Elena stopped short when she saw the person on the other side, briefly wishing she'd never bothered getting up.

"You were supposed to be here three hours ago. You're lucky I didn't close up the shop." Richard walked inside the car shop without a word, inspecting his 'baby' as he walked around the gleaming the red car.

There wasn't anything wrong with the 1969 Ford Mustang. In fact, it was practically new. Only a year old, the car barely had enough miles on it to count as used. It's not like the idiot Richard would really show that beauty of a car what driving meant.

But like all men who bought cars to compensate for…other things, the man wasn't satisfied. It didn't run smooth enough, the exhaust didn't rumble enough, it didn't go as fast as it did three months ago. Blah, blah, blah.

Elena would've told him to shut up and drive a long time ago, but her boss Hector loved the easy money. It was easy to fix a car that had nothing wrong with it. If the boss wants to throw away money, we'll clean up after him, he liked to say.

"You're always playing the radio." He muttered, apparently bothered by the idea that anyone would like to listen to Jackson 5. "Vinyls are much better. I don't know who willingly listens to that crap when the Beatles still exist."

She rolled her eyes on that one. "The Beatles don't exist. They broke up two months ago."

Richard pinched a finger on the bridge of his nose. "They're obviously getting back together."

Lena hummed unconvincingly. "We done here?"

"What's this scratch?" She walked next to Richard and peered down at the black line marring the back bumper. She ran a finger over it, scowling when the color came off on her hand.

"It's a streak of grease, genius." She pulled a rag from her back pocket and buffed out the line until the bumper gleamed just as bright as the rest of the car.

"Okay, Hector signed off on this today. That's gonna cost forty-three." She stuffed her rag back into her coveralls and held out a hand.

"That seems a little high. Want to re-check that paperwork, sweet cheeks?" Lena bit back a curse and clamped her arms down by her side to resist the urge to slam the idiot's head against the car. It was hard enough working with a bunch of guys day in and day out to be dealing with the idiots who paid her to do it.

If she had a penny every time some guy made a lewd comment about her, or questioned her ability to fix a car because she was a woman, she would've been able to quit this godforsaken place months ago.

"Look, either you pay and get your keys, or you wait until tomorrow and pay the fee. Either way, I'm out of here, so I hope you got the money on you."

"You can't just leave." The man sputtered, pushing a large pair of glasses on up the bridge of his nose. If anything, they made his already large eyes look absurdly big. He looked like a frog who was somehow able to talk.

"I can, and I am." Elena walked in the back office and came back, dangling the keys in her hand. Part of her really wished the idiot Richard would leave empty handed, so she could have some fun on the town with Big Red.

The man produced two twenty dollar bills and pressed them against her hand.

Elena counted the money, blinked, and then counted the money again. "You're three dollars short, Rick."

It wasn't the first time he'd tried to short-change her. He never did this when he was doing business with the men. The first time, she let it pass, because she was trying to be nice. Turns out, Richard doesn't respond to people being nice. In fact, he likes to try and take advantage of them.

"I didn't think it was going to be forty-three. Come on, Elena, is it?"

She bit back the urge to remind him of all the taunting little nicknames he'd used for her since she started working at the shop. "You want me to give this to my boss so he can take it out of my check? You want my lights to go out? Is that what you want, Richard?!" Elena bit back a laugh at the panicked look on his face.

"No!"

"What do you want from me?!" Richard reached into his back pocket and came back out with a ten dollar bill.

She knew it.

She knew he had the money. Sexist little weasel.

Elena pressed the keys into his hand and waved him out of the shop. It was hard to see Big Red go, but she knew he'd be back next week. She still had a chance to take that beauty of a car out for a ride. She thought of a couple of routes headed up to Connecticut that would be sweet for a long ride.

Rick stuck his head out the driver's side window. "What about my change?"

Elena walked a little closer, bending at the waist to she could peer into the car. "What change? You made it here past midnight. Consider that your discounted storage fee." Rick opened his mouth, eyes following her as she walked back into the garage and started closing up.

"You can't do that!"

She snorted before giving him a one handed wave. "Night, sweet cheeks!"

The shop fell silent as she turned off the lights, made the last of her notes, and changed out of her greasy coveralls. Elena was glad she lived above the shop. It meant she could change into some oversized pajamas and crash on the couch in about thirty seconds. No commute time here.

She rolled out the barrel trash can to the dumpster and swung the giant bag with all her might, letting out a grunt of exertion.

She wasn't expecting was the dumpster to grunt back.

Elena jumped back with a yelp. She was terrified of raccoons and rats, and she knew they liked to make a home out of all the trash, little bastards. She waited for a long moment for any chittering, and when all she heard was silence, she took a step closer.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Oh god, this was how all the horror movies started, Elena told herself. If there was someone in the dumpster, maybe she should leave them there.

Who was she kidding? If someone wanted to hurt her, they wouldn't be hiding in a freaking dumpster. Besides, wouldn't they have jumped out already?

Her mind started racing again. Wait, what if it was a dead body? Holy crap, what if someone was dying?

Oh, screw it. She hoisted herself up on the dumpster and peered inside, moving the giant garbage bag out of way and trying to peer through the darkness.

A man in a military uniform laid bloody under two trash bags. He was bloody, sported a black eye, and had a busted lip.

She couldn't very well leave a service member like this. He was passed out and in clear need of a doctor. Elena looked up at the starless sky. She almost wished it was a wasted homeless guy, so she could close the lid and let the man sleep in peace. If she didn't do something about this guy, it looked like he would be Resting In Peace.

In heaven.

Elena sighed before leaping into the dumpster. Her night was about to get a hell of a lot longer.