The Blue Goose {Sam, Annali}

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

It was with a familiar sense of deja vu that the Impala rolled into a parking space outside room twenty-three of The Blue Goose, a low budget motel that had seen better days. A lot of better days in fact. The paint on the exterior walls had been bleached an odd shade of yellow from years of exposure to the elements when it might have once been bright and colourful. Now it just looked as though someone had urinated up against it which, if you really looked closely, someone probably had on their way back to one of the rooms in the wee small hours of the morning.

Dean shut off the engine and got out of the car to stretch his legs, remembering not to shut the door again until Li had climbed out too unless he wanted a painful jolt to the heart again. They'd learnt that the hard way at a gas stop earlier in the day.

He paused to survey how busy the place was, noting how many cars were parked up and which rooms had lights on inside, an old habit instilled from a father who always insisted his boys be aware of their surroundings. It was getting towards dusk now, the motel sign coming to life with a soft fizzle and click of neon, the gaudy purple and blue letters framed in a band of hot pink. A warning sign so to speak of how tasteless the rest of the place was going to be. Especially since half of the letters kept flickering on and off. 'The Blue Goose' was intermittantly turned into ' The B_u__G _s '.

Way to attract customers....

Dean gave Sam a look that roughly translated as 'Gimme the key, I'll let us in while you get the bags', and Sam read it with ease, the pair of them falling into routine now that they were in familiar territory. His brother tossed the key over and Dean caught it with one hand, his other holding precious cargo in a diner take out bag, stepping up to the door to unlock it finding that it stuck a little when he tried to open it. After a couple of rough shoves, it swung open, taking Dean with it momentarily since he'd put most of his weight into forcing it open.

"It did that the last time I stayed here." He muttered to Annali over his shoulder as he flicked the room light on. "Nothing's changed."

The low wattage bulb flickered for a moment then stayed on, casting the room in a off white glow, showing up all the dodgy stains on the carpet that Dean didn't even notice on his way over to the small table on one side where he dropped the key and set down the take out bag of food they'd gotten from the diner across the road.

The theme of this particular motel room was at least two decades old, a mixture of hallucinagenic patterns on the wallpaper and mismatching colours on the two double beds that took up most of the space along the right hand wall. The furnishings were well used, chipped in places they weren't stained with questionable marks. There was a small and dingy kitchenette set up opposite the beds that looked like it might have been the scene for a small fire judging by the slightly blackened ceiling above but Dean paid no attention.

He'd stayed here before a couple of years ago and knew that despite the appearance, it was a good place to crash. The onwer wasn't the type to take an interest in his guests, mostly because a lot of them paid by the hour.

"You coming in?" Dean asked, seeing Annali was still standing near the doorway. From the look on her face, she was probably wondering what she'd let herself in for.

"It ain't as bad as it looks."

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

Sam

They pulled into the parking lot and Sam just shook his head as he noticed the sign flash between, 'The Blue Goose' and 'The B_u__G _s '. He turned to Dean and gave him a look, mumbling to himself.

"Nice place to bring Annali dude."

Sam got out of the car and tossed Dean the keys when he looked over at him. Moving to the back of the car Sam was on auto pilot as he opened the trunk and started grabbing bags. This was their usual routine. Dean with the food and the keys, Sam hauling in the bags. The only difference this time was Annali.

Sam chuckled to himself at the thought of poor Annali. It must have been hard enough for her to have the two brothers staying in her home. Then the car trip, the three of them cooped up in the Impala for hours. Now this. The three of them sharing a crappy, rundown motel room. Yeah, she was getting a real dose of the Winchester life now.

He shut the trunk lid then hefted a couple bags onto his shoulders and then picked up the rest in his hands. Following behind Annali as they went to the door. Sam heard Dean tell Annali that is wasn't so bad. Sam nodded.

"Yeah, we've definitely been in worse."

[The Preceptor]

Annali could smell the urine-stained outer walls of the motel the instant she stepped out of the Impala, and her nose crinkled up a bit. She stared at the door that apparently led into the room where they would be staying, and found herself doubting that the inside would be any better. She could only imagine the horrors inside and immediately considered insisting that Dean and his brother could just move in with her and they could just skip all of this. A flash of metal arcing across her line of vision brought her out of her trance and she blinked, looking to Dean just as he caught the filthy key in his hand.

Annali was mesmerized by the way the brothers moved like a well-oiled machine. They didn't even say anything to each other. It was as though they could anticipate one another's every move, and it fascinated her. She did find it a bit rude that Dean left Sam to carry in all of their bags, however, and she frowned as she stepped toward the back of the car to insist on helping him. Unfortunately, she didn't get far before that familiar tug on her chest happened, and she quickly backstepped and moved up to the door with Dean, folding her arms across her chest and staring at the cracked sidewalk beneath her feet.

Dean seemed to be having a bit of trouble with the lock, but finally the door opened and it all but pulled him in. Annali started to follow, but she froze just outside the door as he turned the lights on, and she was finally able to get a good look at the room. It was even worse than she had expected. The only thing she could even think of right then was that she needed about a dozen cans of disinfectant spray to kill all the germs.

"It ain't as bad as it looks."

"Yeah, we've definitely been in worse."

She blinked when she heard Sam's voice and stepped aside to let him through, and then she forced a smile as she followed him into the room. She didn't want to be rude and insulting, especially when Sam and Dean had been such perfect guests in her home. She imagined that hotel bills probably got rather expensive and thought it was unlikely that the two of then could afford to stay at the Hilton every night.

"No, it's great," she said, trying to sound encouraging as she moved to the bed and sat down at the foot of it. She bounced a little to test the sturdiness of it and could feel the hard springs pressing into her thighs, and immediately she longed for her own bed. No wonder Dean seemed to think her home was such a luxury. "Really great..." she said absently.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

Annali was far too polite to admit that she thought they were staying in a dump but it was clearly written all over her face despite her efforts to appear happy with the choice of accomodation. Dean had to agree, it wasn't that nice, but on the road practicality always outweighed comfort and expense and this room was certainly practical. Trading a slightly reprehensible look with Sam, Dean tried to make things seem less daunting for Annali.

"Sorry, I know it's not what you're used to, but it's cheap and they don't ask too many questions so it's handy for us." He wandered over to where Sam had dumped their bags, picked out his own duffel and for once didn't claim the bed nearest the door. Instead he threw it down at the foot of the one closest the bathroom, figuring that it would make things a little easier if either he or Li needed to go in the middle of the night.

"Little tip for you though, best to run the water for a minute before you wash in it and definately don't drink it. If is doesn't work right away, try hitting the pipes a couple of times, that usually gets it going."

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

Sam

Sam moved past Annali as she stepped aside for him. He gave her a little smile. Then he unceremoniously dumped the bags in the middle of the floor as he usually did. Then without even thinking he picked up his bag with his laptop and other materials in it and moved to the rickety table and chairs set against the wall near the window.

As he started setting his laptop up he heard Annali's voice trying to muster up a convincing lie about the room being 'great' and he saw her wander over to one of the beds and sit down. He smirked quietly to himself as Dean then tried to give her some pointers on cheap motel living and just shook his head.

Continuing his laptop setup he fired it up and waited for it to come to life. He turned so he could see Dean and Annali. He tried to give Annali another reassuring smile but wasn't sure how well he pulled it off. It wasn't going to really matter what he did, this was all going to be a big shock to her and unfortunately he though. It was only the beginning.

[The Preceptor]

"You don't have to apologize to me," she said, wanting so much to be a good guest to them even though Dean's comments about the water made her want to gag. She already felt like she was a huge inconvenience anyhow and honestly wished they would stop worrying about her comfort and go on with business as usual. She watched as Sam took his laptop to the table and started setting up, and her gaze moved to the bag of food. She was starving.

"Aren't you guys going to eat?" she asked, getting up from the bed and walking over to where the carry-out bag sat waiting for them. Annali began sorting through it and pulled out a styrofoam container and opened it just a little to peek inside at the contents. Satisfied that she had found her turkey club, she pulled the cup of iced tea from the styrofoam drink carrier and sat down across from Sam.

She opened the container and looked down at the turkey club nestled in a bed of potato chips, cut into quarters, each piece held together with a colored toothpick. A pickle was tucked against the side in a little holder made of cardboard and lined with wax paper in order to keep the pickle juice from sogging the chips. She smiled and pulled out the pickle and immediately stuck the end of it in her mouth and started sucking off the juice as she stared at the back of Sam's laptop monitor, trying to keep her mind off of the room itself.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

Of course Dean was going to eat, it was what he did best beside kicking ass and attracting the ladies, but first things first. Sam's ritual of setting up his computer as soon as they got to a new motel was like Dean's ritual of stashing a knife under his pillow followed by checking the security of the windows and (under certain circumstances) salting the thresholds. Salting could wait since he didn't think there was immediate danger of demonic attack right now, but he made sure to do everything else, most noteably hiding a knife under his pillow while Annali was distracted sorting out her food.

"Come to papa!" Dean finally said, his face beaming with aniticipation as he pulled out his now, not-so-warm cheeseburger from the bag. It didn't really matter to him, food was food and he was starving.

Taking a seat at the table too, he almost forgot he had fresh cooked meat in front of him when he saw Li sucking on her pickle. His mouth fell open a little, eyes staring lustfully at her lips, glistening with pickle juice in what Dean classified as X-rated eating. He'd never wanted to be a pickle so much in his life.

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

Sam

When his laptop finished it's booting up process he opened his Internet browser and typed in some quick Google searches.He wanted to keep an eye on the Toledo, Ohio news in case something popped up while they were on the way. Sam smiled at Annali as she moved over and sat across from him and started to eat her food. It wasn't long before Dean was at the table as well, pulling out his own carton of food from the bag.

Sam pushed his laptop off to the side a bit and grabbed his own food. He opened the carton and looked at his grilled chicken sandwich. Pulling the bun off and making sure they had put on honey mustard instead of mayonnaise. Satisfied that his sandwich was how he liked it he put the top back on, picked it up and took a bite. He rummaged in the other bag they had picked up at the store and pulled out a beer. Popping the top off he took a long swallow. Another bite of sandwich and he turned back to his laptop and started to read some news stories from the Toledo Gazette, picking up some fries and munching on them as he read. Every once in a while he would take a drink of his beer but kept his eyes on the computer screen.

[The Preceptor]

It didn't even occur to the Kindergarten teacher that what she was doing might be considered by some as provocative. So when she glanced over at Dean and caught him staring at her with his mouth slightly agape, her eyebrows drew together in confusion? There was a loud slurping noise as she pulled the pickle from her mouth and quickly dabbed a bit of pickle juice from her chin with a napkin. "What?" she asked innocently, looking at the pickle and then back to Dean.

Sam seemed wrap up in his own little world. He barely had said a word since they pulled into the parking lot. She wondered how much different things were with her there. Would they normally be talking more freely? Was she just completely in the way? She knew that having her there was difficult but there seemed to be no communicating between the brothers whatsoever. Maybe they were afraid to bring it up too much, or maybe unsure of how she would react to things.

"So, um... any news Sam?" she asked after giving the pickle a long lick and then setting it back in its container. She pulled the toothpick out of one of her sandwich quarters and frowned as she pulled off the top piece of toast. Apparently the diner had ignored her plea for 'no tomato', and she pulled off the bit of tomato from her sandwich and set it aside before reassembling her turkey club and taking a bite.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

Dean Winchester was very adept at being unseen when he wanted to be. Effortlessly slipping into the shadows on a hunt or quietly observing from afar when someone or something needed to be tailed. However his subtle surveillance skills appeared to need more work when Annali caught him gawking at her like a pervert. Fortunately, she didn't seem to be aware of what was going on in Dean's mind, which was very lucky for Dean because he probably would have gotten a slap for it.

"What?"

"Ah, what? Uh....nothing."

Eyes down, look at your own food....not the juicy lips, not the juicy lips, not the juicy lips....mmm...cheeseburger....

With both hands wrapped around his burger, Dean munched happily away, turning his attention towards Sam when Annali asked him if there was any news. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the unwanted tomato that Li had removed from her sandwich, the sight of it going to waste taunting him.

"You gonna eat that?" He asked her, pointing at the slice of tomato, his hand already drifting closer so that he could pick it up and add it to his burger along with the extra onions he'd requested in the diner.

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

Sam

Sam looked up from his food and computer when he heard Annali speak to him. Picking up the bottle and taking a drink of his beer to wash down the bite of the sandwich he just took. After swallowing he answered her.

"Uh... No, not really. At least nothing more on the locket right now. I'm kind of waiting to meet this Gary dude or whoever, to see what he knows... I'm mostly looking for strange occurrences. Weather patterns and other stuff that could be omens."

Taking another drink he looked over at Dean. This was going to be a difficult trip he was thinking. What exactly were they going to do about telling Annali what all was going on. They were hunting down the Colt as well as trying to break the curse. How were they going to explain that to her.

Sam smiled at her and then took another bite of his sandwich and ate a few more french fries. Hoping Dean was going to help him out with this. He felt kind of stuck in the middle. Wanting to just tell her but Dean probably not liking that idea much. He wasn't big on bringing civilians in on their business. Sam sighed and went back to staring at his computer screen. Keeping himself busy.

[The Preceptor]

Annali barely paid notice to Dean's request for her tomato, she was so wrapped up in what Sam was saying. But she shook her head and gave a little wave toward him and proceeded to disassemble the other three quarters of her sandwich so that he could have those pieces of the tomato slice as well. Her blue eyes never left Sam though.

"Weather patterns? Omens for what?" she asked, confused, biting into her turkey club and ignoring the fact that he had gotten Greg's name wrong. As far as she knew they were just gonig to Ohio to retrieve whatever information that Greg had about the Cupid's Promise. So what in the world did that have to do with the weather?

She noticed the exchange of looks between them and knew that something else was going on. She also wondered if they were keeping things from her because they didn't trust her or because they were trying to protect her from something. She really was getting tired of being kept in the dark because everyone thought she couldn't handle something... but she wasn't going to speak up about it. This was their life that she was trampling all over.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

Dean frowned a little, weighing up the situation at the table and the best course of action.

This is gonna be tricky....

Trying to get not one, but four slices of tomato onto an already over stuffed cheeseburger with extra onions just wasn't practical but Dean was not a quitter and managed to pull off the impossible. He grinned in triumph, though Annali was too busy trying to find out what Sam was upto to notice.

When Dean glanced in his brother's direction, he got the patented Sammy 'awkward-on-the-spot' plea for help and figured that perhaps it was best they came clean as to the other reason they were in Ohio. The least they could do was explain that they had prior business there since Annali was getting dragged along for the ride. Telling her out right that an angel of the Lord had sent them could wait for the time being.

"Well you know we're hunters, right? We um....what we hunt, we have to track down first and sometimes weird weather patterns and strange occurances are the only way to do that." He explained, trying to keep it simple so as not to lose her along the way.

"It's like tracking an animal's footprints out in the wilderness. If you know what you're looking for, they can lead you right to what it is you're hunting. With the supernatural, it's not so much footprints as....unexplained phenomenon."

Feeling like he wasn't really wording it right he handed over to Sam who's geek brain was far better at the sciencey stuff than he was.

Just don't tell her I'm on a mission from God, whatever you do Sammy...

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

Sam

Sam listened as Dean tried to make the explanation but kept his eyes locked on the computer screen. When Sam heard Dean's voice stop talking he looked up and shifted his gaze to him then over to Annali.

Giving Annali a smile he cleared his throat and thought for a minute. Dean had pretty much explained some of the basics but was giving him the look like he wanted Sam to continue on. Sam sighed.

"Yeah, basically. It just so happens that we had a case we needed to look into in Toledo, Ohio. So combining meeting up with what's-his-name turned out to be convenient."

Sam paused for a minute to gather his thoughts. It wasn't like they were going to be able to hide much from her as long as she and Dean were linked by this curse.

"So, I also look patterns in things that might seem ordinary but when you see the big picture it could mean something else. You know, strange deaths or disappearances. Things like that. Could be a sign of something supernatural going on. That's what I look for in the local papers and things. Trying to put pieces of the puzzle together."

Sam shrugged a little and ate the last of his chicken sandwich. Then he washed it down with his beer before he turned back to his laptop and continued to read some of the local articles about the Toledo area.

[The Preceptor]

Annali listened to the brothers and felt herself completely enraptured by what they were saying. Once again she was reminded of what a boring existence she led back home in Topeka. Sure, she loved her job, adored the kids and they adored her, but this... this was downright exciting. Ever since meeting Sam and Dean her eyes had been opened to opportunities that she hadn't even realized had existed.

Her fascination with this new information became clear as Annali inched closer and closer to the edge of her seat. Her eyes were fixated on Dean and then on his brother as they spoke, telling her all about the omens that told them where supernatural activity was. If it wasn't enough that they experienced these exciting phenomenons, they also, apparently, got to solve actual mysteries. She could feel the pangs of jealousy in her gut.

"So what exactly do you think is in Toledo?" she asked as she picked up another section of her sandwich. "And how can I help?" She bit into the turkey club, her blue eyes wide with hope that the Winchester boys would let her participate in the fun.