Unexpected Encounters (SPN/TVD)

Chapter 3

Dean

He walked into the room after Crowley, Sam on his heals, and came face to face with someone he recognized. It didn't take him long to place her face because though they'd both been so much younger she looked barely a few years older than when they'd met. Or dated. Or whatever it was kids called it these days. Caroline Forbes. She'd been sweet, cute, sort of a dumb blonde, and friendly, but most of all, painfully human. Now, as he looked at her, he saw that cute had become sexy, that ditzy blonde trait had switched to a cool intelligence, and that painfully human part of her had shifted, turning into something much more dangerous. The innocence that he remembered having seen in her eyes was replaced by wariness and pain, and Dean had to force himself not to show that he recognized her. He didn't need Crowley knowing that sort of thing, especially since he didn't even know how he felt about it.

"Boys, this is Caroline Forbes, previous resident of Mystic Falls which is apparently a hub for creatures like her."

"How'd you catch her?"

"Well, a little werewolf chased her my direction. He has a grudge against a certain original vampire and seems to think that Caroline here might know something on how to kill them, and more." both boys exchanged glances before looking back at Caroline.

"Kill an original huh." Dean muttered thoughtfully, meeting Caroline's eyes but giving away nothing. She was silent, staring at him, making no move to mention she recognized him, but he could feel it in the weight of her gaze even though it only landed on his for seconds at a time. He could feel her pain, see from the state of her clothes that Crowley hadn't been going easy on her. It made him uneasy, but he didn't know enough to do anything about it. "Well I gotta say, its tempting, seeing as her kind are a lot more dangerous than the usual fangers, and the originals, well hell. They're unbeatable." he glanced over at Sam who was frowning at Caroline. Hell. He could already see Sam's empathy beginning to surge up at the sight of the tortured girl who looked no older than twenty and less of a monster than everyone else in the room. That made him do a double take. He'd probably been about sixteen when they'd met, she about the same, so that meant she'd been turned not too long after they'd left. He could only wonder who had turned her, and why, and how someone had thought it okay to take the innocence out of her gaze. Ah hell. Now he was as bad as Sam.

"Has she told you anything?" Sam asked, tone clipped, and Crowley shrugged.

"Not yet."

"Maybe it's because she doesn't know anything." the irritation in his tone was becoming clearer, and Dean decided to step in. With a hand on Sam's arm, and ignoring Caroline's piercing gaze, he looked at Crowley.

"How long have you had her here?"

"A week."

"A week of torturing her and she's said nothing." Sam was nearly grinding his teeth. "That makes it pretty clear to me that she doesn't know anything."

"You're too trusting moose. She knows more than she's saying, of that I'm sure."

"Let us talk to her."

Crowley lifted a brow at Dean's offer. He knew the older hunter was well versed in the ways of torture, but he didn't think he practiced them.

"And give you the chance to set her free? I think not."

"Set her free?" Dean scoffed. "You know us better than most of the monsters out there, Crowley. How often do we set your kind free?"

there was a moment of tense silence and then Crowley shrugged again.

"Fine by me then I suppose. Give'er a knock when you boys are done." with that Crowley strutted out the door, closing it behind him with a bang.

Dean immediately looked to Sam who pulled a little device from his pocket, and after the taller brother nodded, Dean looked back to Caroline.