Fake Fan Fiction ❯ The Devil's Sweet Ride ❯ ...But I Don't Know Where I've Been ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3

 

+Flashback

One Year and Six Months Ago

Palo Alto, California+

 

Dean had been fidgeting from the moment they walked in the door. He kept tugging at his tie and pulling at the cuffs of his sleeves, and his left foot kept up a persistent tapping, whether he was sitting or standing.

 

And his eyes never once left his younger brother.

 

Sam was moving slowly through the crowd of mourners, shaking hands and talking softly and throwing that sweet, gentle smile around like a comfort object—which, actually, it probably he was. He looked strong, sure of himself—together. He'd actually been the one who helped Jessica's parents organize the funeral and this wake, and now he was also the one keeping things going.

 

Dean had never been more proud of his brother than he was now, today.

 

But he also knew him better than anyone else ever had, and he could see that Sam was getting tired. Getting ready to crumble.

 

With a quiet sigh that asked yet again, Why him? Dean got up and began fighting through the crowd, the size of which only attested to the fact that Jessica wasn't only loved by Sam.

 

The youngest Winchester tossed that smile his way as he walked up, that new sad, broken smile that made Dean really want to hit something.

 

“Hi, Dean.”

 

“Hey,” Dean said quietly, for his brother's ears only. “You should come sit down for a while.” He didn't ask if Sam was okay, because that would have been ridiculous and might even have undone all Dean's hard work to strengthen Sam enough to get through this day.

 

“Yeah,” Sam replied, just as quietly. “Maybe. Where are you sitting?”

 

“Come on,” Dean said, taking hold of his shoulder and steering him back the way he'd come.

 

“But…wait, maybe I should keep making the rounds…” Sam said. “A lot of my friends are here and—”

 

“And they can find you just as easily when you're sitting still,” Dean told him, firmly pushing him into a seat and dropping into the one next to him. He didn't stare, but every couple of seconds his eyes would stray to the side to glance at this stranger he still called his brother. Sam looked neither left nor right, but faced straight ahead, his whole form radiating misery.

 

It was his change of expression that tipped Dean off, and he was able to match Sam's movements almost exactly as his younger brother stood up to greet the tall, dark-skinned man approaching them.

 

Dean was rather surprised when the two met, not with a shake, but with the hug of two old friends. He was even more surprised that Sam seemed pretty comfortable with that hug. But then again, he also thought the guy did look a little familiar.

 

“Hey,” Sam said once they'd released each other. “I don't think you guys ever got introduced. This is my brother Dean. Dean, this is Derek. He was my roommate for three years.”

 

The name rang a bell, and Dean reached out to shake Derek's hand. “Good to meet you.”

 

“Yeah. You, too.” But then he turned back to Sam, and while Dean could tell he was in no way trying to be rude or hostile, it was plain that there was really only one person he wanted to talk to at this moment.

 

“How are you feeling?” Sam asked his friend.

 

“Like hell,” Derek replied.

 

Sam chuckled, and though it was brittle, it was also the first flash of humor he'd shown since the fire. “Me, too.”

 

Derek smiled, his eyes passing over the room before he suddenly proclaimed, “God, she would have hated this.”

 

Sam's eyes became as distant as his smile. “Yeah. Yeah, she would have.”

 

Derek's tone took on a note of confession then. “Y'know, it's funny. I keep expecting her to come in here all fired up about all these people spending their Sunday crying over her. I keep thinking she's about to…I dunno, beat us up with the baby's breath, or something. And I keep thinking I'd never be happier to have her give me a black eye.”

 

“With baby's breath?”

 

“Hey, if anyone could…” Derek shrugged, tears standing in his eyes. “I dunno. But I hope she gets over the whole betrayal of us throwing a wake and all, so she can be happy…wherever she is.”

 

Dean didn't know what it was about the words, but they made him feel as if he was intruding on something very private, and he reached out and laid a hand on Sam's shoulder.

 

“Hey, Sammy, I'm gonna go see about the food in this place, okay?”

 

“Oh…all right. I'll…be here,” Sam said.

 

Dean squeezed his shoulder gently and then turned away to begin winding his way toward the food table, though he'd never felt less hungry in his life.

 

When he looked back, Sam and Derek were conversing earnestly, and for the first time since he'd lost Jess, Sam was really talking.

 

And though it wasn't him who convinced Sam to open up at last, Dean was glad nonetheless, and unspeakably grateful to this young man he did not know.

 

+End Flashback+

 

The Winchesters left Palo Alto as the sun came up the next morning, and that had been the last time Dean—and probably Sam, too, actually—had seen the man who played the role of best friend during Sam's college years.

 

Until now.

 

Because there was absolutely no doubt as to the identity of the person standing in the room with Dee, Ryo, JJ, Drake, and two strangers.

 

Wait, maybe make that one stranger, because maybe he knew that really familiar-looking girl standing next to Derek…he just needed a minute to work on it…

 

It was only then that he realized they'd all been standing there gawking at each other, and Sam seemed to become conscious of that at the same time, because right then his shock-soft voice echoed through the silent room.

 

“What the hell are you doing here?”

 

His voice held a bite of anger that, while fairly understandable considering the awkwardness—and possible danger—of the situation, nevertheless surprised Dean.

 

Derek, though, grinned wide enough to break his teeth, still looking shell-shocked. “I have no idea, man. I think they were just about to tell me when you came in. But anyhow, it's not my fault, so cut the frown and at least pretend you're as happy to see me as I am to see you, eh?”

 

Sam stared at him for a couple more seconds. Then, as if some sort of test had been passed, he took a couple of steps and grabbed his friend in a rough hug.

 

Dean, meanwhile, had been standing there watching one of the two girls, trying to place her, and it was his own voice that reverberated next. “Kaci?”

 

XXX

 

Apparently Sam was not the only one who had no idea what his brother meant when he said the name “Kaci” in such a stunned voice. He definitely wasn't the only one staring at Dean as if he'd grown another head or…nine.

 

Then one of the women spoke up, sounding decidedly peeved. “Ryo, Dee, did you two bring another nut job into the precinct? `Cause no offense, but I really don't think you need another one of those.”

 

“Yeah, Dean, what's with you?” Dee asked, sounding amused. “Stress of the job finally get to you?”

 

“Wha—no­, you ass! I'm just surprised to see—”

 

“Dean,” Ryo cut in gently. “There's no one by that name here. That girl is Diana, and the other is Nikki. And…well, apparently you already know Derek, and don't think we won't get to that in a minute. But there's no Kaci.”

 

Sam, his arm still clamped around Derek's shoulder, groaned inwardly and closed his eyes. As if all these problems weren't enough, now they had to deal with Dean's apparent mental instability, too?

 

Then the girl named Nikki spoke.

 

“Well. This would be absolutely humiliating if I cared one lick. Hi, Dean.”

 

XXX

 

Fifteen minutes later, everyone was still very confused, but at least they were sitting down now.

 

“You told me your name was Kaci,” Dean accused, though he probably would have sounded more threatening had he not been hunched over with his fact buried in his hands.

 

Nikki looked disgusted. “I'd been working undercover for a month and a half and I'd just done five tequila shots. I really did think that was my name. Besides, you weren't exactly forthcoming yourself.”

 

Dean's head shot up at that, but Nikki was still talking.

 

“Gotta say, I never figured to see you darken my figurative doorway again. Didn't actually count on you remembering me at all. Then again, I did kick your a—”

 

“Don't say it,” Dean groaned. Back down his head went and he spoke from the safety of his arms. “Please don't say it.”

 

“Can't take gritty reality?”

 

“Not at this moment,” Dean said from his arms.

 

Sam, meanwhile, was tucked in a corner with Derek and Ryo.

 

“Okay, so wait. You know him from college,” Ryo said, pointing from Sam to Derek.

 

“Yes,” Sam replied. “Stanford. We roomed together three years.”

 

“And you introduced him to his girlfriend,” Ryo continued, this time pointing from Derek to Sam.

 

Derek's seemingly ever-cheery expression became a bit more shaded, and his voice dropped the way Sam's usually did when this particular subject came up. “Yeah. Pretty soon after he got there. She was…a close friend of mine.”

 

Ryo looked as if he was trying to remember something.

 

“No, Ryo. I never told you about her,” Sam said quietly. “Or that she…passed.”

 

“Oh. I…I'm sorry,” Ryo said awkwardly. “For both of you.”

 

The three of them sat in silence for a moment, and then Derek asked, “So what are you even doing here, Sam? I mean…this isn't exactly a great vacation spot. Do you have friends here?”

 

“…I asked you first,” Sam said evasively.

 

Derek rolled his eyes. “Oh, so that's how you wanna play it. Well, fine. I actually came here with my girlfriend.”

 

“Your…you have a girlfriend? I thought you were…celibate, or something.”

 

Derek gave a long-suffering sigh. “Not by choice, my friend. Not by choice. She's actually the one giving your brother a coronary right now. She was staying with Diana when this whole thing happened, and when Diana decided to fly out here she came with. Then she decided for no apparent reason that since I was on break from grad school, I should come. But I still haven't got a clue what's going on.”

 

“Wha—?” Sam began, then cut himself off. So many questions… “But she's so…”

 

“Scary? Yeah, I know. Goes with the whole FBI agent thing. That's why I love her. Or at least really, really like her.”

 

“But you're so…”

 

“Not scary? I know that, too.”

 

“And do you plan to survive this relationship?”

 

“Oh, don't worry, she'd lose her badge for opening fire on me.”

 

Sam stared at him. “…That is unhealthy.”

 

“Ya think?”

 

“I think.”

 

Ryo broke in then. “Uh…are you absolutely sure you two aren't…?” He turned red under Sam's steady, knowing gaze. “Ah…never mind. I'm just gonna…be over here now,” he finished lamely, going to join Diana, Dee, Drake and JJ.

 

“God this is all too complicated!” Diana was saying. “Can't you people even get kidnapped in a normal manner?!”

 

JJ seemed to shrink into himself with each word, and by the time she finished he actually looked ashamed of himself. Drake's dagger-like glare was enough to make Ryo quiver, and his hand moved toward JJ`s shoulder before stopping and dropping reluctantly into his lap.

 

Diana sighed. “Look, I'm sorry, JJ. Really. It's just…this is so weird! I mean, you disappear without so much as a fingerprint, and then you pop up a month later without so much as a name?”

 

“Yeah, we know how it went, thanks,” Drake said darkly.

 

“Well, have you seen any doctors? Maybe there's medicine or something…” Diana trailed off when she saw the looks being tossed her way. “No, that's…not the right thing to say, either.” She sighed heavily. “Okay, you know what? I think I'll just get outta here. Nikki and I aren't doing any good here right now, and Derek…” She shrugged. “Well, Derek is Derek. He basically contributes humor and little else.”

 

“No, you don't have to leave—” JJ protested, looking as if he just thought he should.

 

“No, honey, I should,” she said, leaning over to peck his cheek. He blushed as she straightened and looked at the other three. “If you want I can call Berkley and brief him. Tell him as much as I know.”

 

Dee smiled at her. “Thanks for the offer, but Ryo already did. He knows everything we do.”

 

“Wow, I bet that's unbearable for you.”

 

“You have no idea.”

 

“I dated him.”

 

“Okay, so maybe you have some idea.”

 

She grinned. “I knew you'd see it my way.”

 

It took a bit of effort to haul Derek from his and Sam's corner, but in the end the two of them had made a plan to meet up the next day and Derek, Diana and Nikki were out the door, leaving Dean, Sam, Dee, Ryo, Drake and JJ alone.

 

“Well,” Dean said into the silence. “That was weird.”

 

“Which part?” Sam asked glumly. “The part where you met up with a chick you apparently went barhopping with, or the part where I met up with my best friend who really knows nothing about my life at all?”

 

“Or the part where I was trying to explain what was going on to JJ and Drake while going on Ryo's glances and my own eavesdropping?” Dee piped up.

 

“Or what about the part where you all met up because of me?” JJ finished.

 

“…Yep, that's weird,” Dean said after a moment of contemplation. “So anyways, did you tell us to come here to meet them, or…?”

 

Ryo was about to reply when a quiet groan distracted them all.

 

“JJ? You all right, babe?” Drake asked worriedly.

 

JJ let out another groan in reply, his hand reaching up to rest on his forehead. Then, suddenly, he threw his head back, his groan becoming louder. His hands clenched around the arm of the couch, and then his eyes went blank and he stared off into space.

 

Sam stared—he knew that look.

 

Oh, no…

 

XXX

 

“Okay, I'm done.”

 

Drake dropped a stack of folders on his desk with a deep and satisfied sigh.

 

Another voice echoed through the room, rising in a giggle. “See, told ya it wouldn't take long! Now come over here and relax, eh?”

 

Drake grinned slowly and pushed himself out of his chair, walking across the room and falling onto the office couch next to JJ. As soon as he was seated, JJ rolled into his lap and slid his arms around his neck. He leaned forward and kissed Drake, his whole body pressed against the blonde's.

 

Drake kissed him back, melting against the cushions. “Mm…sailor, take me away,” he murmured as they parted.

 

JJ sat up, glaring down at him indignantly. “I'm not a sailor! I don't swear enough!”

 

Drake grinned again. “Oh, don't pout, babe. It's just a figure of speech.” Then the grin suddenly became teasing. “Then again, it is cute…” he said, leaning forward to capture JJ's lips again.

 

“I love you,” JJ said against his lips. “Really, really a lot.”

 

“More than caffeine?”

 

“Mm-hmm.”

 

“Sugar?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“Jumping people?”

 

JJ smiled mischievously. “Well, who says one has nothing to do with the other?”

 

“JJ!”

 

“Oh, don't be a prude, Drake. Who's gonna know? The couch certainly isn't gonna tell anyone…”

 

More laughter, and then silence, and merciful, merciful darkness.

 

XXX

 

“JJ? JJ! God, what's wrong with him?” Drake demanded, his arm encircling JJ's shoulders.

 

“Trust me,” Sam said, looking desperately sorry for JJ and maybe a little sick. “You really don't want to know.”

 

JJ whimpered, his fingers curling into his hair and holding on while his other hand gripped the arm of the couch, and Drake could do nothing except hold him.

 

“JJ, please. Tell me what's happening,” Drake pleaded.

 

And just as he said it, JJ's sobbing gasps ceased, and he sat absolutely still, his chest heaving as he tried to draw breath.

 

“JJ?” Drake asked hesitantly. “Are you all right?”

JJ slowly looked over at him, his face white.

 

“I...I don't know.”

 

XXX

“Well,” Dean said, closing the door behind him and leaning back against it. “That was an interesting evening.”

 

“Which part?” Sam asked, sitting down on his bed.

 

“All of it,” Dean replied, tossing his jacket over a chair and throwing himself onto his own bed with an exaggerated groan. He turned over and crossed his arms over his chest as he continued. “JJ's vision is probably somewhere near the top of the list, though.”

 

“Oh, yeah, I wanted to ask you about that,” Sam said, sitting up and crossing one leg in front of him, his arm draped over it. “What makes you think it was a vision? JJ said he thought they looked younger. What makes you think it was anything other than a random memory flash?”

 

“I just know. You've never seen anyone have a vision, but trust me, it's pretty easy to recognize. The way his eyes went blank…” He shrugged. “Just trust me on this.”

 

“But…why would JJ have a vision of the past? I mean, what's the point?”

 

“I don't know, but he did,” Dean insisted stubbornly.

 

“I believe you,” Sam said absently. He was quiet for a moment, then shrugged and said, “Well, we'll figure it out. Hey, what was with that girl earlier? Who was she?”

 

Dean rolled his eyes. “No one. Just someone I had a drink with once.”

 

“You got drunk with her?” Sam asked, looking as if he figured this would be a fairly interesting story to brighten a night that, so far, had pretty much sucked.

 

“Nah, we were both already drunk when she turned up.”

 

“Dude, when did all this even happen?”

 

Dean debated for a moment whether or not to answer, then sighed and admitted, “About three months ago. After…well, you know.”

 

Sam looked reflexively down at his right hand, flexing it and curling it into a fist. Yeah, he knew—didn't think he'd ever forget the pain of getting that hand back in working order. Then, suddenly, he looked back up at Dean.

 

“Wait, so was she the one you lost the bet to?”

 

Dean scowled wordlessly at him, and then took swift and deadly revenge.

 

“So what are you gonna do about Derek?”

 

Sam's face immediately went blank, and he moved to lean back against his pillows. “You fight dirty, Dean.”

 

Surprisingly, Dean did feel a little guilty then, and his voice was less hard when he answered.

 

“Well, you have to tell him something, especially if he's sticking around. He's gonna want to know what you've been up to. And I think you need to know what you're going to tell him before he asks.”

 

Sam paused once again before he said, “Speaking of which, we need to figure out what to tell Drake and—and Dee and Ryo, too. We got off tonight because Drake wanted to get JJ home, but tomorrow there're gonna be questions. Hell, from Diana and Nikki, too. That whole FBI thing could get damned inconvenient, `specially if they happen to know Hendrickson.” Though if that's the case, we're screwed no matter what we say…

 

They were silent for a long time, each thinking it over, before Dean asked, “Anything?”

 

“…Nope. Well, except…” Then Sam looked at his brother out of the corner of his eye, looking away again quickly, and let his very silence speak for him.

 

Dean groaned and threw an arm over his face. “I hate my life.”