family line, supernatural [ 1 ]

024. killer truck

They're at a gas station and Natalie is sitting in the backseat with her head out the window as Sam stands next to her, a map laid out on the top of the car. Dean stands a few feet away, his phone pressed to his ear.

"Okay. I think I found a way we can bypass that construction just east of here. We might even make Pennsylvania faster than we thought." Sam says.

"Yeah. Problem is, we're not going to Pennsylvania." Dean says, putting his phone up.

"We what?" Sam asks.

"I just got a call from an, uh, old friend. Her father was killed last night, think it might be our kind of thing." Dean says.

"What?" Sam asks.

"Yeah. Believe me, she never would've called -- never -- if she didn't need us." Dean says. "Come on, are you coming or not?" He gets in the car. Sam grabs the map and gets in the car.

~ ~ ~

"By old friend, you mean...?" Sam asks.

"A friend that's not new." Dean says.

"Oh, yeah, thanks. So her name's Cassie, huh? You never mentioned her." Sam says.

"Didn't I?" Dean asks. "Yeah, we went out." He says after a moment.

"You mean you dated somebody? For more than one night?" Sam inquires.

"Well, that's a record." Natalie says.

"Am I speaking a language you're not getting here? Dad and I were working a job in Ohio, she was finishing up college. We went out for a couple of weeks." Dean says.

"Deanie had a girlfriend." Natalie teases in a sing song voice as she leans over and pinches her older brother's cheek.

"Stop." Dean grumbles, slapping her hand away as she laughs. "I will sprain your other ankle." He threatens.

"Rude." Natalie mumbles. She glances down at her sprained ankle, hating how clumsy she gets. All she did was try to prove to Dean that she could successfully climb a tall fence without either brothers' help on their last case. She only tried since he promised her 20 bucks if she succeeded.

So, despite Sam's concerned warnings, she did climb the fence. She successfully climbed up, but while climbing down, she lost her grip and fell, her ankle twisting in the process.

"And?" Sam asks. Dean shrugs. "Look, it's terrible about her dad, but it kinda sounds like a standard car accident. I'm not seeing how it fits with what we do. Which, by the way, how does she know what we do?" Sam asks.

"You told her." Natalie realizes.

"You told her the secret? Our big family rule number one. We do what we do and we shut up about it. For years, I do nothing but lie to Jessica, and you got out with this chick in Ohio a couple of times and you tell her everything?"

"Dean!" Sam exclaims when he doesn't get an answer.

"Yeah. Looks like." Dean says.

+++

The three siblings walk into the newspaper office, Natalie mostly hobbling.

"Jimmy, you're too close to this. Those guys were friends of yours. Again, Cassie, I'm very sorry for your loss." The man walks off, Jimmy also walking away. Cassie turns, spotting the three hunters.

"Dean." Cassie says.

"Hey, Cassie." Dean says, the two staring at each other for a moment. "This is my brother, Sam, and my sister, Natalie." Cassie smiles at them, the two returning their own smiles.