Cherry Pie

Cannibals

[Rayne]

A week later, we were staying at a motel in Hibbing, Minnesota and the bracelets that Missouri had given to Dean and I were still holding up. Sam and I went jogging every morning for over an hour and neither Dean nor I had gotten even a hint of a headache. Life had once again taken on a comfortable rhythm.

In the afternoons, the brothers would take me out for training, and in the evenings we would either scour the news for possible hunts or go to bars to 'earn' some money. Ever since Dean witnessed my pool playing skills, he'd been trying to convince me to hustle people with him.

"Come on, Rayne," he yet again tried to persuade me as we entered a little bar called 'Kugel's Keg' that we'd been coming to for the past few nights. "No one would ever suspect you."

"It feels dirty, Dean," I told him for the hundredth time. "It wouldn't sit right with me; just taking people's money."

"You wouldn't be taking it, Cherry Pie. You'd be winning it." He gave me his patented Winchester smile. "Fair and square."

"Dean-" I started.

"Listen, I'll play the protective boyfriend, trying to prevent his slightly tipsy girlfriend from losing all their savings," he explained. "It's genius!"

"Are you serious?" I stared at him. "That's like three lies right there."

"Rayne," he begged. "Think of it as payment for saving the innocent citizens from the Big Bads of the world."

I rolled my eyes at him as Sam came back with our drinks. He handed Dean a bottle of beer and me a can of Sprite. "Is he still trying to corrupt you?" he asked me, gesturing to his older brother.

"I'm not trying to corrupt her," Dean said. "I'm trying to cultivate her talents."

"Don't worry, Sam." I giggled. "My morals are withstanding his persistent attempts."

"How about this," Dean proposed, sounding desperate now as he pulled his chair closer to mine. "If you do this, I'll let you drive the Impala."

Sam backed away from the table, exaggerated disbelief on his face. "Whoa, Dean, are you feeling all right?"

"Um, if you recall, I haven't taken you up on our other bet yet," I reminded him.

Dean's enthusiasm fell as he remembered that he'd already promised to let me drive his car when I beat him at pool. He brought his hands together in a pleading position. "Come on, Ray. My Baby needs new parts and I'll...I'll get you something, too."

"Oh, you mean you'll get me something with the money that I win?"

Dean's face lit up. "So, you'll do it?"

With a sigh, I hopped off my stool. "I'll do it, but I'll do it fair and square...and not your kind of fair and square either," I added.

"Meaning?" Dean asked.

"Meaning that I'll tell whoever wants to play against me that I'm really good and then it'll be their choice if they want to take the bet."

"Okay, Shrimp." He smirked. "It's not like anyone will take you seriously anyways. Your feet can't even reach the floor on that stool."

"Just don't get in the way, Big Ben." I shoved him lightly in the chest before making my way over to one of the pool tables. "And anyways, these stools are abnormally tall," I added over my shoulder. "Kinda like the two of you."

The brothers watched me from their table as the night went on. Three guys challenged me one after the other, not willing to accept the fact that I'd previously beaten their buddies. Their stubborn bravado lost them five hundred bucks and won me the hard-to-earn approval of the Winchesters.