Faith woke with a start, glancing over at the clock and absently noticing Dean wasn't back yet.
And though she knew he could take care of himself, she figured he;d be back by now at least.
She shook Sam's shoulders gently.
Sam
"What?" Sam groaned, using his hands to push himself up as he blinked slowly at her.
"What is it?"
Faith
"Sorry."
Faith gestured at Dean's unslept in bed.
"He's not back yet. And ordinarily, that would be awesome, but with everything that's happened lately..."
Sam
"What do you mean?" Sam asked, not awake enough to put two and two together yet.
Faith
"I just have a feeling something's happened to him."
Faith bit her lip.
"I can go look, if you want?"
Sam
"I'm sure he's fine," Sam insisted.
"Probably got carried away with the waitress and she still has him tied up somewhere."
Faith
Faith was already out of bed, pulling a pair of jeans on. She threw on one of Sam's shirts, too tired to find one of her own, then set about putting her shoes on.
"I just have a bad feeling, is all."
Sam
Sam hesitated, then nodded.
"Ok. The last time we had a bad feeling and ignored it... nevermind."
He got out of bed and pulled a shirt on himself.
"How about I check the bar, and you head outward?"
Faith
"Alright."
Faith rubbed her eyes tiredly, slipping a knife into the back of her pants.
Sam
Abut fifteen minutes later, Sam pulled the impala up at the bar. It was obviously closed, so he hoped someone was there.
"Good to go?" he asked Faith as he got out, "meet back here in a quarter?"
Faith
"Yeah."
Faith reached up on tippy toes to kiss him.
"I'll call if I'm having a party."
Sam
"Good idea," Sam kissed her back.
"Be careful. And if you walk in on anything... don't say I didn't warn you."
Faith
Faith nodded and touched his cheek, before turning around and heading in the opposite direction.
She yawned, and pulled Sam's shirt tighter around her body.
Sam & Dean
Sam watched her leave, before locking up the car and heading for the door to the bar. He knocked loudly, and waited.
~*~
Dean was struggling to breathe. He'd been treading water for hours now, and countless times had ducked below the surface to try and find a way out - or at least something to use to pry the grating off.
But it had been too dark to see anyting underwaer, and he couldn't feel anything with his hands.
The water was now justinches from the grating, the water level having slowed in rising as the drain it was coming from had been covered in water itself. Squeezing his fingers through the thin wire on the grate, he'd managed to hold his head above water for this long.
But he couldn't keep that up, and if he didn't plaster his lips to the wire he knew he'd be a goner within the next half an hour.
"HELP!" he yelled one final time, all hope gone of anyone but Castiel swooping in to save him.
But Castiel didn't come.
He ducked his head under the water again, then brought it up for another few deep breaths.
Faith
Faith kicked a rock aimlessly as she walked, yawning again as she glanced around her. Sam was probably right, Dean was just shacked up with the waitress and she was just being paranoid.
A faint cry of 'HELP' sounded to her left and she spun, running in that direction, hearing the sound of water as she got closer.
"Dean?!"
She thought she spied fingers clenched around a brain grating, and skidded over, bending down to peer inside.
Sam & Dean
Sam was peering through the dusty windows of the bar when he heard Faith yell, and turned to sprint in her direction.
Meanwhile Dean disappeared under the water as it finally overflowed the drain, only his right hand still holding the grating.
Faith
Faith spotted the hand holding on immediately, and the glint of the silver ring caught her eye. She looked closer, and bit her lip, before slipping her hand around the grating and pulling up.
It moved a little, so she tried again, managing to completely dislodge it the second time, catching Dean's hand quickly before it sank.
Sam & Dean
Sam arrived as Faith was pulling Dean up, and grabbed his brother's left hand.
Dean was coughing up water and struggling to take a deep breath, and once he was on dry land started heaving.
"Dean?!" Sam knelt at his side, a hand on his shoulder.
Faith
Faith sat back slightly, ready to step in and help if anything needed to be done.
"Seriously, why is everyone trying to drown us lately?"
Dean & Sam
Once Dean had managed to take in a few deep breaths, he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees and groaned loudly.
"That was about as fun as getting kicked in the jewels."
"Dean, what happened?" Sam frowned.
"Hell if I remember," Dean coughed again, falling over onto his backside.
Faith
Faith looked over at Sam, and raised her eyebrows.
Sounded similar to her own experience with drowning.
"Alright, let's get you back to the motel."
Dean & Sam
Dean groaned again as Sam lifted his brother to his feet.
"You're sure you don't remember anything?" Sam frowned again.
"Nothing," Dean shook his head, more annoyed than anything.
Sam looked to Faith, then back at Dean.
"Hell of a coincidence don't you think?"
"What coincidence?" Dean scowled, pulling his arm away from Sam, "we don't get coincidences. What, you haven't figured that out?"
"So someone after us has a thing for water," Sam shrugged, "great, that's an awful lot to go on."
Faith
"And has the apparent ability to mind wipe," Faith commented, as they started back to the bar to get the impala.
"So that's a little more."
Dean & Sam
"Not only that, but they somehow managed to get the drop on us. And let me just repeat, us," Dean looked at her worriedly.
"So maybe it's not a person, maybe it's some kind of entity," Sam suggested.
"Demon?" Dean raised an eyebrow.
"No. Not messy enough," Sam pointed out.
Faith
"Well, we have come across some pretty iffy humans, but they wouldn't be strong enough."
Faith rubbed her eyes tiredly.
Dean & Sam
"Maybe it's something like that kid in Lake Manitoc," Dean suggested.
"Except for the part where you don't remember anything?"
"We don't know if anyone remembered getting attacked, none of them survived," Dean frowned.
"Angela did," Sam pointed out, "besides, what spirit have we pissed off lately that we haven't officially dealt with?"
Dean stopped to think as they got to the car.
"None I guess," he chewed his lip, "but then that raises a more frightening question, doesn't it?"
Sam glanced at Faith.
"Maybe we just need to figure out what Mississippi and New Orleans have in common," he said.
Faith
"Could be a mutant. Or an alien."
Faith shrugged.
"I've had my fair share of both of those species."
Sam & Dean
"What mutant or alien would have a gripe with us?" Sam asked as Dean unlocked the car and got in.
Sam opened the door for Faith.
Faith
"Good point, I mean, I can think of a few who would just want me out of the way."
Faith slid into the car, settling back against the seat.
Sam & Dean
"Like who?" Sam asked, getting in beside her.
Dean listened intently.
Faith
"Mmm... Magneto. Toad. Sabretooth."
Faith paused.
"Probably Logan."
Dean & Sam
"Magneto? Sabretooth?" Dean couldn't help but smirk, "what are they, Gladiators?"
"Anyone you can think of with the power to remove memories?" Sam ignored him.
Faith
Faith thought for a moment.
"Well, telepaths. But the only two strong enough to do that... well, they wouldn't."
Dean
"You sure about that?" Dean raised an eyebrow.
Faith
"Definitely."
Faith nodded.
"Xavier for one, wouldn't be mobile enough to overpower either of us. And Avery... well, I doubt she's going to be trying to kill her ex sister in law."
Dean & Sam
Dean stared at her a moment longer, then started the car.
"Not even if she's got a new man in her life?"
"Judging by Zac himself, I'd have to agree with Faith," Sam shrugged, "he didn't seem like he could hurt anybody."
"People say the same about you Sam," Dean pointed out.
Faith
"I doubt I register that high on her radar now, anyway," Faith said, shrugging. "Zac and I have been apart for well over a year now."
She leaned against Sam as they drove.
"I'll give Angel a call, see if he knows anything. I'll try Giles too."
Sam & Dean
Sam was still glaring at Dean for his last comment, but he relented and put his arm around Faith.
"Ok," he sighed.
"And I'd just like to point out, that I would have gotten out," Dean said suddenly, "I had a plan."
Sam rolled his eyes.
Faith
"Was the plan... drowning?" Faith asked.
She glanced up at Sam, almost smug.
"See, this is why we should always listen to Faith when she has a bad feeling."
Dean
"Hear that Sam?" Dean smirked, "she has feelings for me."
Faith
"Yeah," Faith agreed. "Bad ones."
She grinned slightly.
Dean & Sam
"I should think so."
"Don't encourage him," Sam scorned.
Faith
Faith pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and checked the time, then rubbed her eyes, mentally calculating what time it was in Cleveland and in LA.
And if Giles and Angel would appreciate wake up calls.