Xander stared blearily at the array of items before him and tried desperately to make sense of what he saw. Rows of colorfully wrapped packages were laid out, and while normally he would have found such a variety of items appetizing, at the current hour he could barely comprehend what he was looking at. He wished he could be warm and in bed instead of standing here dead on his feet.

"Dude, what is taking so long? I've already filled the car with gas," someone voiced from Xander's left.

Xander turned and found the cause for all his current troubles in his direct line of sight. Dean was looking at him impatiently, and Xander felt supreme irritation welling up in him as he turned what he hoped was a venomous glare on Dean (though in his current state it came off as more of a half-lidded, vacant stare). "It's five in the morning," Xander stated unnecessarily.

"Yeah, and I would have liked to have been on the road by now, so would you pick something so we can go?"

Xander thought if he gave it another minute, Dean might actually start tapping his foot. He returned to his perusal of junk food. He'd gotten a nasty wake-up call this morning when Dean, fed up with trying to shake him awake, had doused him with cold water. When Xander had jumped out of bed, Dean had told him he had five minutes to get his stuff packed and get in the car before they left him behind. They'd stopped for some gas and for what amounted to breakfast as far as Dean was concerned (a coke and a candy bar), but Xander didn't have enough of his higher brain functions working at the moment to make a decision of such magnitude.

"It's five a.m.," Xander repeated. "It's just indecent to be awake this early. It's all I can do to stay on my feet, I can barely open my eyes enough to see, and nothing here looks good, which is something I never thought I'd hear myself say about junk food." Xander crossed his arms over his chest and donned an expression that looked better suited for a pouting five-year-old. "I think my stomach is still asleep."

Dean brought a hand up to cover his face and let out a deep sigh. Xander wondered if he were counting to ten in an effort to stay calm. "Come on, Xan, work with me here. Just pick something…you don't have to eat it now, save it for later. You can catch some sleep in the car. I'll even keep the music down low." Dean gave him his most charming grin, one that was usually reserved for the ladies.

Xander just frowned at him. "You dumped water on me this morning. Cold water. Forgive me if I'm not feeling very cooperative at the moment." Xander turned back to the shelves of junk food and added mournfully, "And they don't have any moon pies."

"What about some Twinkies?" Dean threw out pleadingly. "I'll even pay for them myself."

Xander picked up a package of Twinkies and stared at it for a moment as though it were an extremely tricky Rubik's Cube. "I don't know." Xander picked up a Milky Way in his other hand, his gaze bouncing back and forth between the two. "What if I end up wanting chocolate instead. I'm just not equipped to deal with these sorts of decisions at this hour."

Dean sighed half in exasperation, half in relief. "Easy." He grabbed both items out of Xander's hands. "We'll just get both."

Dean turned to go, but Xander stopped him. "I need something to drink."

Dean turned back to him with a pained look. "Come on, man!" He was starting to look really desperate, and Xander smiled inwardly thinking it almost made up for getting drenched that morning. Almost.

Xander moseyed over to the coolers against the wall, and Dean followed forlornly. A couple of minutes passed with Xander simply staring at the rows of beverages, and Dean began to shift impatiently.

When Dean finally couldn't take it anymore, he blurted out, "Would you just pick something?"

Xander shot him an annoyed glance before opening the cooler door and pulling out a one-liter bottle of Coca-Cola.

Dean's impatience waned a bit as he warily eyed the bottled in Xander's hand. "Dude, if you drink all that, you're gonna need to take a leak before we even make it ten miles."

Xander held the drink out between them and gave Dean an uncompromising stare. Somewhere along the way, Xander's self-pity party had become more of a 'give Dean a hard time' party. Because, honestly, what kind of guy throws water on a person before the sun even comes up. "Do you want to spend all day here?"

Dean's expression became rocky, and for a moment Xander thought Dean might call him on it, but eventually Dean just grabbed the soda out of his hand and added it to Xander's growing pile of goodies. "Can we go now?"

Xander pretended to think about it, drawing the moment out just long enough that it looked like steam might come of Dean's ears, then shrugged casually and said, "Okay."

Dean shook his head and took off for the check-out counter. Xander ambled behind, not even bothering to hide his grin. Dean paid for the items, and they went out to the car where Sam was waiting in the passenger seat.

"What took you guys so long?" Sam asked as Xander climbed into the backseat and Dean sat down behind the steering wheel.

"Ask grandma back there," Dean jerked a thumb in Xander's direction.

"Hey, I didn't ask to be woken up with a shower this morning," Xander defended.

"Would you let that go?" Dean started the ignition, and they pulled out onto the highway. "I mean, is there anything else that could wake you up?"

"I don't know." Xander considered it seriously for a moment. "You could have tried yelling or shaking me," he accused.

"We did," Dean and Sam answered in unison, in the same matter-of-fact tone.

"Huh," Xander said in surprise. "Well did it have to be cold water?"

"Next time, ice will be involved," Dean informed him. "If Sammy can wake up early, so can you."

Xander grimaced at the thought of recurrent, watery wake-up calls and opened his coke to take a giant swig in the hopes that the caffeine would keep him awake. At the very least he wanted to stave off another water-attack today.

Sam glanced at him over the seat and gave him a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry, you'll eventually get in the habit of waking up early."

"Are you a victim of the Dean School of Waterworks too?" Xander asked.

"Actually, I woke up one morning with a snake in my bed. I learned not to sleep in with Dean around after that," Sam explained.

Dean laughed to himself at the memory. "I'll never forget the way you came flying out of that bed. You nearly ran out the motel door in your underwear."

"Yeah. That was hilarious," Sam returned without humor. "Dean thinks he's the king of practical jokes," Sam told Xander.

"What are you talking about? I am the king of practical jokes. And you two better watch out 'cause I strike without warning," Dean grinned cockily, missing the shared look of unstated alliance that passed between the other two.

"Better be careful Dean…you're out-numbered now," Sam warned him.

Dean looked at Sam with a raised eyebrow, knowing a challenge when he heard one. "Are you threatening me?"

Sam held up his hands. "I'm just saying."

As for Xander, he just knew he really didn't want to wake up to find a snake in his bed. He'd had enough of snakes at graduation.

"So do you guys think we'll end up seeing John when we get there?" Xander asked suddenly.

"Not likely," Sam muttered darkly. And just like that the atmosphere went from jovial to thick with tension.

"Okay, time for some music," Dean said with faked cheer.

The car was immediately filled with the wails of an electric guitar, and Xander slumped despondently in his seat. He'd be willing to bet that Dean's music could wake him from even the deepest of slumber, which was unfortunate because he'd take unconsciousness over Dean's music any day.

*****

Waiverton, North Carolina was damn-near picturesque. The town was nestled at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and a thick forest separated town from mountain range. The air was cool and smelled fresh and clean. Tall, magnificent trees lined the spotlessly-clean sidewalks, and though the sky was overcast, the area was still breath-taking to look at.

With a population of 12,000, the town was small but not overly miniscule. It was, however, somewhat out of the way. There was no direct road to town from the highway, instead one had to take several farm roads to reach the isolated burg.

Main Street ran north through the center of town, and each side was lined with storefronts: a couple of antique shops, a grocery, a drug store, a small one-screen theater, Billie's Café and Creamery, and Ned's Diner. Despite its smallness, the town was alive with activity as people came and went through shop doors or sat at patio tables in front of the café, chatting and sipping coffee.

All in all, it seemed like an ideal place to live. But Dean knew better than anyone that looks could be deceiving. As they drove through town, Dean eyed his surroundings, his hunter's eyes scouring the details for anything that might seem remotely out of the ordinary.

Dean pulled the Impala up to the sidewalk in front of Ned's Diner, got out of the car, and stretched his muscles out in a catlike fashion before shutting the driver's side door. Sam got out of the car as well, and Dean leaned down to peer into back window.

Xander's head was tilted back against the seat, his eyes closed and mouth gaping, and Dean rolled his eyes. "No wonder that last hour was so peaceful."

Dean didn't know how Xander could have fallen asleep after drinking that entire liter of Coke, but he did know that he didn't want to have to go through that morning's fiasco again just to get Xander out of the car. He figured he would put forth one good effort to wake him, and if that didn't fly, he'd just leave the younger man in the car.

"Dean," Sam said warningly, apparently noticing the mischievous glint in Dean's eyes.

"What?" Dean shrugged innocently. "I'm just going to wake him up."

Sam shook his head but didn't intervene. Dean leaned into the car and got as close to Xander's ear as he could, then in as loud a yell as he could manage, he growled out, "Xander, there's a snake!"

This time, Dean's efforts paid off spectacularly. Xander jerked awake, flying out of his seat only to bounce off the back of the front seat and tumble out the car door onto the ground as he yelled out wildly, "What? No! I didn't fall asleep!"

An elderly couple that was passing by at the time stopped and looked over at the boys with baffled expressions. Sam could only return an embarrassed smile.

"Well, look at that." Dean grinned down arrogantly at Xander. "You can wake up in a timely manner."

Xander began to calm down from his frantic display and started taking in his surroundings. "Where are we?"

"Welcome to Waiverton, North Carolina," Dean replied, sticking a hand out to help Xander up.

Xander stared at his hand for a moment before grudgingly taking it and allowing himself to be pulled off the ground. As he dusted himself off, he gave Sam a reproachful look. "Thanks for looking out for me," Xander commented sarcastically, having thought that the two of them had come to an unspoken alliance against Dean's crazy antics.

"Honestly, I didn't think it would work," Sam said apologetically.

"Yeah, I'm a little surprised myself," Dean agreed.

"Oh come on, guys," Xander practically whined, glancing back and forth between the two. "I'm not that bad."

Dean glanced at Sam, and the two shared a look before saying at the same time, "Yeah, you are."

Outnumbered, Xander's expression changed to annoyed defeat. "So now what?"

"Lunch," Dean answered, gesturing to the diner they were parked in front of.

Xander looked amendable to the idea. "Well, I suppose if you're going to feed me every time you rudely wake me up, I guess I can get used to it."

Dean frowned as they turned and moved toward the diner. "Hey, I paid for breakfast. I didn't say anything about paying for lunch."

As they entered the diner, a bell rang overhead. "Just sit anywhere," a voice yelled from the back kitchen which could only be partially seen through an open, rectangular window over the counter where plates of food were placed before being taken to their proper table. Booths lined the walls while the inner floor area was littered with small, square tables. Dean opted for one of the tables rather than squeezing into a booth, and Sam and Xander took seats as well.

Dean scanned the room, taking in the small diner's various occupants. Most were middle-aged or older, sitting together in pairs or groups; however, in a booth in the far back corner, there was a lone, elderly gentleman, staring down into the depths of his coffee cup. Sam noticed the direction of Dean's gaze and glanced back over his shoulder at the lonely, old man in the corner.

Before Dean could get a reaction from Sam, a young waitress with long, sandy-brown hair approached their table with menus in tow. "Welcome to Ned's Diner," she said. Dean, never one to miss an opportunity to appreciate a pretty girl, gave her a slow once over. She was maybe a little older than Xander, with average height, blue eyes, and the easy, graceful kind of smile that could change a man's day from bad to good with one shy grin.

Dean's charm immediately kicked into high gear. "Hello there…" his eyes sought out the nametag pinned to her right shoulder, "Avery."

Avery gave him a polite smile – less enthusiastic than Dean would have liked, but he didn't mind a challenge – and began handing out menus to them. She gave Xander his menu last, and her gaze lingered longer on him that it had on Sam or Dean. "I don't think I've seen you guys before. Are you new in town?"

"As a matter of fact, we just arrived," Dean told her, bringing her attention back to him. "I'm Dean, this is my brother Sam," he gestured to his right, "and that's Xander." He left off the title of 'brother' for Xander, not quite ready to apply that label out loud.

She nodded absently and immediately turned her attention back to Xander, gracing him with a shy smile. "Will you be staying long?"

Dean's grin tightened a bit, a little put out that Xander seemed to be pulling all her attention. "For a few days at least." This time she couldn't even be bothered to drag her eyes away from Xander. Xander on the other hand seemed to be about as aware of her rapt attention as Mister Magoo without glasses.

Sam coughed in a way that sounded suspiciously like a laugh to Dean's ears, and Dean turned to him with narrowed eyes. Sam nonchalantly opened his menu for perusal while bringing a thoughtful hand to his chin in what Dean suspected was a less-than-clever attempt to hide an amused smile.

"So what brought you guys to our bustling little neighborhood?" Avery asked Xander in a sincerely interested voice.

"Actually, Dean and Sam are here to do repair work. I just graduated, and I've been on a road trip, so I thought I would tag along." Xander explained.

"A road trip," Avery's eyes widened in amazement. "That must be so cool! I've always wanted to travel."

"Yep, just call me king of the road." Xander gave her a goofy grin.

Dean cringed at the lame line and then grew even more perturbed as it garnered Xander another one of those day-making smiles from Avery. Honestly, he'd seen junior high kids with more debonair flare than Xander. Avery, however, didn't seem to realize just how far out of Xander's league she was. No accounting for taste Dean supposed.

"Ya know, Sam and I have been on the road for quite a while ourselves," Dean put in.

Avery glanced at Dean with mild interest, her smile tamed down again to mere politeness. "That's nice."

Sam gave a strangled, choking noise that was unmistakably recognizable this time as a suppressed laugh, earning himself an icy glare from Dean. Sam cleared his throat, schooling his features into a much more serious expression, and his voice was quiet and even when it came out, "Hey, Avery, what's the story with the guy in the corner?" Sam cocked his head in the direction of the man Dean had noticed earlier.

Avery's warm smile completely faltered, her expression overcome with sorrow as she turned woeful eyes to the far-corner booth. "That's Jim Hastings," she told them, her voice pitched low like Sam's had been. "For as long I've been working here, he and his best friend, Tom, would come in every day. One day they'd be arguing over who had caught the biggest fish that morning, the next they'd have everyone in the diner laughing over some off-the-wall joke," her lips curved in a wistful smile. "People around town say they'd been friends since they were boys, lived here their whole lives, fishing in the creek every day just like when they were kids. But a few days ago…" Avery trailed off, swallowing hard as the smile fell from her face again.

"But what?" Sam pressed gently.

Avery's eyes dropped to the wooden table, and she chewed her bottom lip a moment, making her youth more apparent, before continuing in a strained voice, "There was an animal attack in the woods a few days ago. Tom was killed." She looked back up, her eyes glassy and filled with sadness. This was the part of the job Dean hated the most…the inability to ease someone's grief. It was something he'd grappled with in regard to Sam, completely helpless when it came to sparing his brother the anguish of losing Jess.

"It just hurts to see him like this," Avery continued. "It's been such a hard year for him. First his wife and now his best friend."

Dean leaned forward in curiosity, wondering if there might be some connection between the two deaths "What happened to his wife?" Out of the corner of his eye, Dean saw Sam tense a bit and knew he was probably wondering the same thing as himself.

"She was sick for several years," Avery said. "Cancer I think."

Dean slowly leaned back in his seat. It was doubtful there was any connection.

"Jim was pretty messed up when she died, but Tom stuck by him, helped him to pull through. Now though… They say Jim was the one to find his body, I can't even imagine—" she broke off, a painful grimace etching her features.

"Man, that sucks," Xander succinctly summed up in a quiet, stricken voice.

"It's scared the whole town real bad. I suppose everyone's afraid it will happen again. Some game and wildlife people came by though, checked things out. They think it was probably a rabid bobcat…probably already dead by now. They're pretty sure it won't happened again," Avery stated nervously, sounding as though she were trying to convince herself as much as them.

Dean shared a knowing look with Sam. "Still, it couldn't hurt to be cautious," he advised her. "Better safe than sorry, right?" Avery gave him a small smile and nodded.

A loud voice called out from the back kitchen, causing Avery to wince. "If you don't quit your yappin' and start taking some orders, you're going to be looking for another job!"

"I'm on it," Avery called back unremorsefully.

"We should probably let you take our orders. We don't want to get you into trouble," Sam said contritely.

"Oh don't worry," Avery consoled with a wry look. "Ned's bark is worse than his bite. So what'll it be?"

Xander perused his menu for a moment then looked up at Avery. "What do you recommend?"

Avery practically glowed at having Xander's attention, and Dean slumped broodingly in his seat. The corner of Sam's mouth twitched, and Dean had to suppress the urge to kick him under the table. Xander was, of course, oblivious as ever.

Avery leaned in close, shyly tucking her hair behind her ear, and pointed out something on Xander's menu. "I like the chicken tenders best. They're really good."

"I'll have that then," Xander grinned at her.

Dean closed his menu and dropped it on the table with a sulky plop. "I'll have a hamburger and a coke."

"I'll have the same," Sam added.

"I'll have it right out," Avery collected their menus and gave them a bright smile before taking their order back to the kitchen window.

Dean tilted his head and watched her walk away, then slid his gaze over to Xander and gave the young man a considering look. "You know she's got the hots for you, right?"

Xander gave a startled look and quickly glanced over his shoulder in the direction Avery had gone. He turned back to Dean. "Seriously? You really think so?"

Dean groaned. "You've got to be kidding. No one can be that dense when it comes to women."

Xander frowned at the insult, and Sam tried to allay an argument. "Don't worry, Xander. Dean's just jealous because he pulled out all the stops to get Avery's attention and you managed it without even trying."

"Hey," Dean glared at him, taking umbrage at the slam against his ability to charm a girl. "I could have charmed her, I was just holding back on Xander's account…since he has about as much of a clue as an ostrich with its head in the sand."

Sam snorted. "Right. You were just being charitable."

Sam was getting far too much amusement at his expense, Dean thought. He turned his attention back to Xander, leaning over the table and saying in a scheming manner, "When she comes back with our food, what you need to do is ask her out."

Xander blinked at him. "You mean like on a date?"

Dean nearly dropped his head on the table in frustration. "No, to the moon. Of course on a date."

"But what if she says no," Xander argued.

"Trust me, man, she's not gonna say no." Dean spotted Avery heading back in their direction, her arms laden with plates. "Here she comes," he hissed and quickly leaned back in his seat, donning a laid-back expression.

"Here you go." Avery deposited their plates in front of them. "Is there anything else I can get you?"

"Um, hey, Avery?" Xander voiced. She turned to him with bright smile. "I, um…" Xander eyes widened, and he suddenly seemed to freeze up. "Thanks," he blurted out suddenly.

Avery laughed warmly. "You're welcome."

There was an awkward pause where the two just stared at each other, and finally Avery said, "Well, I should let you guys eat before your food gets cold."

"Right, 'cause the tenders are probably better when they're warm. Nobody likes a cold chicken," Xander laughed nervously.

Avery nodded and gave him a smile before moving off to another table.

"What the hell was that?" Dean gaped at him incredulously, struggling to keep his voice low.

"I panicked, all right?" Xander shot back. "It all happened so quickly, I couldn't think of anything to say."

"Surely you could have come up with something better than 'cold chicken'," Dean admonished.

"When it comes to talking to women, I have rather limited experience," Xander explained.

"No really," Dean deadpanned. "I never would have guessed."

"And half the girls I end up dating turn out to be de- disasters. Complete disasters," Xander stated emphatically.

"You need lessons in suave 101," Dean told him.

"Don't listen to Dean, Xander," Sam cut in, shooting a reproving look at Dean. "You just need to relax. It'll be a lot easier to talk to her if you're not stressing over it."

"Yeah, that's easier said than done," Xander complained, viciously stabbing a French fry with his fork and glaring at Dean as if all this were somehow his fault.

"Well, you'll get a second chance when she brings us our check," Dean tried to cheer him up.

"Yeah. Humiliation round two, that's something to look forward to. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll even have a sudden death overtime. Or maybe just a sudden death." Xander crammed a forkful of fries in his mouth and chewed despondently. "So what are we doing after this?" Xander asked around his half-chewed food. Apparently, dining etiquette went out the window without Missouri around to crack the whip.

"Probably try to find a place to stay and then look into this job we're supposed to work," Dean told him.

Xander frowned thoughtfully, and after swallowing his food, he laid down his fork and asked, "If you guys are here to do repair work, why didn't you bring any tools?"

The question caught Dean off-guard, but luckily Sam stepped in with a reasonable response. "The types of jobs we do vary, so, usually, whoever hires us provides us with whatever materials we need to do the job."

In the far back corner of the diner, Jim Hastings stood from his booth, laid down some money for his coffee, and made for the diner's exit. Sam and Dean both eyed him discreetly as he passed. It went unnoticed by Xander, who was finding his chicken tenders to be just as good as Avery had said they would be.

"So what kinds of jobs have you guys done? Maybe I could help out on this one," Xander suggested.

Sam and Dean shared a distressed look. This could quickly become problematic, just as Dean had feared when he first invited Xander along. One of them would have to distract Xander while the other went tracking down information, or they were going to have to find some inconspicuous way to ditch him.

"Well, there's always leaky pipes," Dean said.

"And broken windows," Sam put in.

"Mostly some really tedious stuff, you'd probably just be bored," Dean mock-lamented. "And, hey, if you have a date with Avery, you're gonna be too busy to hang with us boys."

"Yeah, because that seems likely to happen," Xander said sarcastically.

Suddenly it became imperative to Dean that Xander get a date with this girl. If nothing else it would be a great way to get Xander out of their hair for a few hours while they got to the bottom of what it was they were supposed to hunt. "Hey, I've seen stranger things happen," Dean tried to boost his confidence. A lot stranger than he can imagine, Dean added silently to himself.

A short while later they finished eating, and Avery returned to their table with their check in hand. "How was everything?"

"Great," Dean said, digging out his wallet and trying to give Xander a pointed look that urged him to say something to Avery. When Xander just stared dumbly at him, Dean added, "I think Xander really enjoyed those chicken tenders."

"Good!" Avery gave Xander a pleased look. "Are you sure I can't get you anything else? Maybe some pie?" her eyes pleaded with him. The girl couldn't be more obvious if she wrote it on a poster board, Dean thought.

When neither Dean nor Sam seemed interested in having pie, Xander shrugged and said, "I think I'll pass on the pie this time."

Dean held in an exasperated growl.

"Actually, we were wondering if you might be able to point us toward a place that could put us up for the night," Sam said.

"Martha Jennings runs a bed-and-breakfast not far from here. She always has plenty of room. Just follow Main Street down to the four-way stop, take a left, and it's the second house on the right. You can't miss it," Avery dutifully told them.

Dean thought it was time for desperate measures. "Say, Avery, how much longer before you get off work?"

Avery glanced at him in surprise and then checked her watch. "Actually, just ten more minutes. Why do you ask?"

She looked apprehensive at his question, and Dean had to quell his resentment at having his ego wounded by such a disinterested reaction. "Well, I was thinking, with us being new in town and all, maybe you could give Xander a tour of the town. Sam and I have a few things we need to check out…no sense boring Xander to death when he could spend his time on the arm of a pretty girl." Dean gave her his most charming smile, "What do ya say?"

Avery's eyes brightened, and Dean doubted it had anything to do with his smile. "Well, there's not really a lot to see," Avery explained, "but I'd love to. I mean…if Xander wants to," she turned questioning eyes to Xander.

"Yes!" Xander nearly jumped out of his seat. "I mean, yeah, that's sounds- I'd like that too."

Dean was too relieved to quibble over Xander's incoherent babbling, but he decided that sometime soon he'd have to take Xander aside and teach him the finer points of romancing the ladies. "Good, glad we've got that all sorted. So why don't we just leave Xander here with you while we go get ourselves a room and take care of a few other things. He can just meet up with us later at that Martha's place."

They all nodded in agreement, and Dean laid out enough cash on the table to cover the check and still leave enough to make for a decent-sized tip for Avery. "You two kids have fun now," Dean teased slyly, causing Avery to blush.

"See you guys later," Xander said, his tone laced with an unspoken 'get lost' geared toward Dean. Ungrateful brat, Dean thought. The things one does for family…

Sam and Dean left the diner, the jingling bell marking their exit, and got in the car. Dean let out an exhausted sigh as soon the car door shut. He didn't think he'd ever put so much effort into securing a date, and it hadn't even been for himself.

Dean started up the car, pulled away from the curb, and immediately launched into a game plan. "Okay, so we'll get our rooming situation sorted out as quickly as possible, and then I think the best place to start would be with Jim Hastings, see what he knows, then from there we can hit the library and maybe see about-" Dean was distracted by the sound of Sam snickering. He glanced over at his brother to see Sam's shoulders shaking with repressed laughter, and his brow furrowed in confusion. "Dude, what are you laughing about?"

"I never thought I'd live to see the day when the great Dean Winchester charm lost its influence on women," Sam laughed loudly.

"I've haven't lost anything," Dean protested passionately, which only caused Sam to laugh harder.

"She totally dismissed you, man," Sam wheezed out between hysterical laughs.

Dean gave him a thoroughly un-amused glare which just sent Sam into another bout of cackles so fierce that he doubled over as far as the seatbelt would allow. "Yeah, go ahead, laugh it up," Dean muttered darkly. "It was just a one-time fluke." As Sam's laughter continued without any indication of letting up, Dean began to get seriously peeved. "Dude, it isn't that funny."

Sam continued to laugh for another good minute before finally tapering off, a sunny grin still pasted on his face. Dean glared reproachfully. "Do you think maybe we could focus a little now?"

"Yeah," Sam replied, still unsuccessful in wiping the grin off his features. He cleared his throat, trying to reign in his amusement. "So you think Jim may have seen what happened to Tom?"

"Maybe," Dean said, then added reluctantly, "or maybe he's the one who caused it. Remember, there's a possibility we're dealing with a werewolf here."

Sam frowned. "But Tom and Jim were friends."

"If he really is a werewolf, he probably wouldn't have had any control over what he did. Hell…there's a chance that he doesn't even know what he is. Either way, he's probably the best lead we have so far."

"And if it isn't a werewolf at all?" Sam interjected.

"Then we follow up on the black dog theory," Dean said.

Sam considered that avenue, remembering that the modus operandi of a black dog was to haunt any well-used path or waterway, especially those that led from a church to a cemetery, which was often the path down which they would carry a coffin after a funeral service. "We should probably check the library, see if there's any record of old church grounds, graveyards, ley lines, footpaths…you know, Avery mentioned they fished a lot. If there's a creek, maybe there's a black dog guarding some old bridge or something."

Dean nodded. "We also need to pin down exactly where this Tom guy died."

"You know, maybe we should split up," Sam suggested.

Dean thought that was productive option. "We'd be able to cover more ground that way, and that's not bad idea since we may have to meet back up with Xander soon."

Sam nodded his agreement. "This could get really complicated before this is all over."

"One step at time," Dean said. "And I call dibs on the book digging. Last old man I talked to tried to kick a hole in the back of my car. I'm not looking for a repeat performance."

Sam was probably better suited to coaxing information out of the grieving man anyway. "Guess we have plan then," Sam stated.

"Guess so," Dean returned.

Next