Expecting 4/10 - part 1
SERIES - Coloured Lights
TITLE - Expecting
CHAPTER - Lucky Days 4/10 - part 1 (long chapter)
AUTHOR - ICantBelieveImNotButter
GENRE - Alternate reality, Family, Romance
FANDOM - Supernatural
CHARACTERS - Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Bobby Singer, John Winchester, OFC
PAIRINGS - Dean/OFC
RATING - M
SPOILERS - None
WORD COUNT - 8858
SUMMARY - Dean and Sam's lives have always been different and with Dean's pregnant girlfriend joining them life’s going to get a lot more interesting.
WARNINGS - AU story - Draft - all mistakes are mine
BETA - N/A
A/N - This chapter is my version of the season 3 episode ‘Bad Day At Black Rock’ again with my added twist and of course if something from the episode isn’t here I couldn’t be bothered to write it so pretend. Although this chapter has a lot more of my story and characters twisted in than the previous one did.
Inspired a little bit by Katy Perry’s song ‘I kissed a girl’ because it was stuck in my head when I wrote this
DISCLAIMER - All things relating to the Supernatural series are the property of Eric Kripke. No copyright infringement is intended.
CHAPTER FOUR - LUCKY DAYS
Pepper walked around the medium sized motel room they were staying in. A glass of water in one hand; the other resting against the small bump under her shirt. Her baby was growing and developing nicely. The last sonogram scan they had done was still sitting in the Impala's glove box after Dean had been looking at it while Sam drove here. Pepper would have to send a copy of it to Bobby, Ellen and John when she got the chance. All three of them wanted to know how everything was going with the baby, well Bobby and Ellen had asked but Pepper had decided to send John as many photo's as she could anyway.
It had been hours since they'd stopped for a break and Pepper was getting a little bored. She was waiting for Dean and Sam to recover so that she could at least talk to them about where they were going next but they were still sitting on the small sofa in front of the TV. Both staring at the screen even though the program they'd been watching had finished 20 minutes ago.
Pepper sighed and was about to open her mouth when Dean's cell phone rang. She jumped slightly at the sound before half turning and walking into the small kitchen. She placed her glass down on the sink and picked Dean's phone up from the oval shaped table, checking the caller ID before pressing the call button.
"Hi, John" She answered warmly. She couldn't help but be in a good mood.
"Ah, hello Pepper." said John. He really was expecting Dean so hearing Pepper's voice was a bit of a surprise. "Can I talk to Dean?"
"Oh he's busy right now. He and Sammy are recovering."
"Recovering from what?" John asked, slightly startled. The last he heard they were simply hunting a possessed janitor at a school. Nothing too big or dangerous. "Are they okay?"
"Well physically they're both fine, but mentally..." Pepper trailed off, half on a laugh.
"Why?"
"Because they just watched a birthing video that I picked up. A very graphic birthing video." Pepper replied.
There was a pause where John tried to get his head around that.
"Sam and Dean willingly watched that?" He asked.
After witnessing the birth of his two sons he knew just how...horrifying the miracle of birth could be. He wouldn't think any man would choose to witness it unless they had to.
"They didn't really have a choice. They're being punished." She informed.
"For what?" John had to know. "What did they do?"
"Dean made some comment about me being fat or something," Pepper replied half-handily. "And Sammy smirked, sooo as punishment they had to watch the video."
"I'm sure Dean didn't mean it as an insult."
"Oh I know he didn't. But, you know, still." Pepper half shrugged.
John couldn't help but chuckle loudly at that. He wondered how his sons coped with the images they had just seen.
"Could you give 'em a message for me?" John asked
"Yeah, of course," Pepper smiled.
"I've got a storage locker just outside of Buffalo, which has been broken into." said John. "I'm too far away to get to it myself. I need Dean and Sam to check it out for me. Make sure what they took wasn't something too dangerous. Here's the address--"
Pepper quickly grabbed a pen and scribbled the address on the back of a recite.
"I didn't know you had a storage container. What's in it?" She asked as she placed the pen down.
"Just, important thinks I've collected over the years." John quickly replied. "You think you'll be able to get there? I've already let them know that I'm sending a couple of my associates in my place and I've convinced them not to call the police."
"Yes. We should be able to get there soon. Did you want us to call you when we've found what’s been taken?"
"You might not be able to reach me. I'm just about to enter a town with very little reception." He explained. "But I should only be here for three to four days. If you run into any kind of trouble just call Bobby. He'll know about most of what’s in the container."
"Oh alright then."
"Thank you Pepper. And, ah...thanks, for the photo you sent me." John mumbled quickly.
He was still excited at the thought of becoming a grandfather but he knew that he couldn't seem too excited or Dean would know that something was up and that could lead to everyone finding out that he was the one who had got Pepper to the hospital that day. He was also a little nervous when talking to Pepper. Even though she seemed nice and she would be a part of their lives from now on he was just not used to her just yet. Maybe he never would be. He did appreciate the effort she was making to keep him in the loop of the baby's progress even though he never had the guts to ask.
Pepper smiled brightly, even though John couldn't see it and Sam and Dean weren't paying attention.
"You're welcome. Well, I'll let you get back to what you were doing."
"Okay." John nodded, then as an after thought added, "And try to go easy on Dean and Sam. You're the only pregnant woman they've ever really been around. It'll take them awhile to become as sensitive as they should be."
Pepper chuckled, "I think you're right. Okay. Bye."
She hung up and grinned while shaking her head. Turning around she saw Dean and Sam still in the same position, staring at the television. Pepper rolled her eyes and stood up. She walked towards them pausing to turn the TV off and then stood in front of it with her arms crossed. Neither man registers her.
"How are we doing' boys?" She asked smugly.
"Ah..." began Sam but then closed his mouth again.
"Did we learn our lesson, or do we need to watch the video again--"
"--No!" Dean and Sam shouted at the same time. Finally coming out of their trances.
"We've learnt our lesson." Sam assured her quickly.
"Just don't show us that ever, ever again." Dean begged looking at her with wide eyes.
"I don't know why you're both so upset by it. I mean it's not as if either of you have to go through it." Pepper pouted.
"Oh," Sam frowned. He'd never thought about that. He was glad at that moment that he'd never have to see anything like that again. Unlike Dean who would probably be in the delivery room when the baby was born. "Sorry."
"Yeah. Me too." said Dean as he stood up. He walked around Pepper and grabbed the video tape out of the VCR. Holding it out in front of him he asked "Can we bury this thing in a 20 foot grave?"
"Awe my poor traumatized baby." Pepper said in a patronizing tone.
"I'm not traumatized."
"You were staring at a blank TV for so long that you didn't even notice when your cell rang."
"My cell rang?" Dean asked. He really hadn't heard anything at all (just the screams from the video echoing in his head.) "Who was it?"
"You're father." Pepper replied. "He's got a storage container outside of Buffalo that's been broken into. He want's us to go sort it out."
"A storage container?" Sam asked frowning in confusion. He looked up at Dean. "Dad ever tell you he kept a container in a storage place?"
"Um, no." said Dean. "Dad tell you what was in it?"
Pepper shook her head. "Not really. He just said it was important items and things that he's collected over the years."
"Guess we're going to Buffalo then." said Dean.
Seven minutes later, their bags were packed and they were heading out the door of their motel room.
"It’s gonna be a long drive." said Sam as he placed the last bag into the boot. "We're nearly five hours away from Buffalo. It'll be morning by the time we get there."
Sam closed the boot and walked around to the passenger side. He was already in the car by the time Dean was opening his door. Pepper stood behind him ready to get in the back.
"You gonna be right in the car for that long?" Dean asked her.
"I'll let you know if I'm not."
Pepper reached forward and ran one hand around the back of Dean's neck before tugging him down towards her and kissing him passionately. Dean couldn't help but smirk into the kiss knowing that he was fully forgiven for his little fat comment. Just as he was about to pull her closer, Sam leaned over and blew the car horn in one short but loud 'honk'.
Pepper pulled back, biting her lip to stop from laughing. Dean didn't find it as amusing as she did.
As he got into the car, Dean turned to Sam.
"You are such a little brother sometimes." He told him.
Sam frowned while Pepper burst out laughing.
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By the time they reached the storage container and grabbed the spare keys from the front desk clerk it was 7.00 and the sun was up and shining.
Dean had wanted to drop Pepper off at one of the motel's close by but she refused. She wanted to see what John was keeping in storage which left Dean only one option, to let her come with them. He'd given her a warning to stay close. He trusted his dad but knew that anything could be down there. The three of them grabbed a flashlight each and headed down to the basement were the larger storage containers where.
"Man," Dean half chuckled, shaking his head.
"What?" asked Sam
"Just, Dad. You know him and his secrets." Dean replied. "We spend most of our lives with the guy and it's like we barely even know the man."
"Well," Pepper began just as the elevator stopped. "You're about to learn something."
The three of them stepped out of the elevator and headed down a past a long line of old and probably abandon containers.
"Which one is dads?" Sam asked
"Um," Pepper chewed her lip slightly and looked down the line of containers. When she spotted John's she held a hand up and pointed. "That one over there."
They headed towards it and Dean took the key to the lock out of his pocket. Once the door was opened they each scanned the room quickly with their flashlights. Sam was the first to notice the floor which had various markings in red to warn off demons.
"No demon's aloud." He muttered.
Dean and Pepper moved their gazes to the floor as well.
"Blood." said Dean indicating the many spots of splattered blood around the door. Noticing something he bends down to get a better look. "Check this out," He lightly touches a wire strung just above the floor.
Sam and Pepper follow the path of the wire with their flashlights.
"Ah" Pepper makes a noise of disbelief when she sees the wire connected to the trigger of a shot gun, in the mouth of some animal skull. "Home land security eat ya heart out."
"Dear old dad." Dean muttered.
"Whoever broke in here got tacked." said Sam as he returned his attention to the blood.
Dean was still bent down looking intently at the blood patterns. "I got two sets of boot treads here. Looks like it was a two man job."
"And unless there’s a body here -and god I hope there isn't- which ever one took the hit probably just kept walking." said Pepper.
"Yeah," Dean agreed and stood up. "Looks like it."
Dean and Sam carefully stepped over the wire, just encase it was connected to any other guns. While Sam continued walking, Dean stayed and turned around holding his hands out to Pepper. She took them in her own and aloud Dean to help guide her over the wire. Once she was on the other side, Dean let go of one of her hands and led her around the room. He wasn't usually the hand-holding type but being in an old, dark, dusty storage container full of who knows what made him a little edgy.
"So, what's the deal? Dad do work here or something?" Sam asked, as he moved around the room.
"Livin' the high life as usual." said Dean.
Slowly they made their way around the room looking at various things. Dean saw something small sitting on top of some papers that caught his eye. He let go of Pepper's hand to take a look at what it was. A small trophy with a little person kicking a ball on top.
"1995" Dean read the front of the trophy out loud.
Sam and Pepper both moved closer to get a better look.
"No way." Sam said in disbelief. He took the trophy from Dean to get a better look. A small smile tugged at his lips. "That's my division championship soccer trophy. I can't believe he kept this."
"Yeah, well that's the closest thing you ever came to being a 'boy'" Dean shrugged and moved on.
"I think its sweet, Sammy." Pepper said honestly
Sam looked up and Pepper and smiled. Behind them, Dean was looking over a small table. Suddenly he sees something very interesting and picks it up.
"Oh wow!"
"What?" Sam asks, placing his trophy down and turning around to Dean.
Dean was grinning with pride as he held a gun in his hand. "It's my first sawed off." He explained. "I made it myself. Six grade."
He cocks the gun and laughs slightly as he remembers making it. Pepper walks towards him with an amused grin on her face.
"Oh, you're just a goofy little child inside, aren’t ya?" She teased before kissing Dean's cheek.
Dean pouted and carefully put the gun down, not wanting to break it.
Eventually they found a caged off area with the lock broken. Sam opened the gate carefully and led the way inside. On the right hand wall was a handful of different types of guns and other weapons including...
"Holy crap!" Dean said amazed. "Look at this, he has land mines." He paused and moved closer to get a better look. "Which...they didn't take. Or the guns." He turned back around and shrugged. "I guess they knew what they were after huh?"
"Yeah, but what was it?" asked Pepper.
Sam used his flashlight to scan across the wall of guns before turning around to the other side. The left hand wall was covered in shelves that were filled with different sized boxes. Each box had a lock, and different types of white symbols carved into the tops.
"Hey, Dean. Check this out." Sam called over his shoulder.
Dean and Pepper both moved to stand beside Sam.
"See these symbols?" Sam continued
Pepper frowned, "What do they mean?" she asked as she reached a hand out to lightly trace on of the symbols.
"That's binding magic." Sam explained. "These are cursed boxes."
"Curse boxes." Dean nodded then looked down at Pepper. "They're supposed to keep the evil mojo in, Right?" He asked looking back at Sam. "Kinda like the Pandora deal."
"Yeah, yeah they're built to contain the power of the cursed object." Sam agreed.
Dean and Sam quickly scanned over all the boxes, neither noticed when Pepper headed out of the cage. Her interest peaked by something on the other way on the room. Figuring the boys wouldn't mind if she didn't want to look at the hexed boxes anymore.
Sam was the first one to notice the gap on the shelf where on box had been.
"One box is missing." He commented as he ran his finger over the surrounding dust. "Great."
"Well, maybe they didn't open it." Dean half shrugged.
"Aaah!"
Dean and Sam spun around after hearing the short scream. Panic written clearly across Dean's face when he couldn't see Pepper. Together they ran out of the cage and into the main area once again. The spotted Pepper in one corner leaning over a dusty looking table. Dean bolted towards her and nearly rammed his side into the table.
"What is it? Are you okay? Is the baby okay?" He asked in one long breath.
Pepper looked up at him and smiled, "Oh, yeah, no I'm fine."
Dean gaped at her. He ran a hand over his face then grabbed her shoulders, turning her to face him.
"Don't scream like that unless something is wrong, okay." He said as he got his breathing back to normal. "You just took 3 years off my life, Woman."
"Sorry." Pepper apologized. "I was just...well look at this." She turned back around and gestured at what she was looking at.
It was an A-4 piece of paper mostly covered in dust but what was on it was still visible. It was a child's drawing created with coloring pencils. The picture was of two people holding hands. One person bigger than the other and both with huge smiles on their faces. A bright yellow sun shining down on them. Above the smallest character was the word 'Me' and across the tall one 'My big brother Dean'. Pepper was gushing at the picture.
Dean frowned, "You screamed because of a kid's drawing?"
"Not just any kid's drawing." Pepper defended. She grabbed the pictured and held it in front of her chest for Dean and Sam to see. "A Sammy Winchester original."
"I don't remember doing that." said Sam as he leaned in to get a better look. "I can't believe that's even here. I thought dad would have tossed things like that in the bin."
"Awe," Pepper sighed. She turned the picture around and looked down at it herself. "Well, John did say that he kept important things in here..." She trailed off and chewed her bottom lip. "Oh, I think I just fell in love with you're father." She joked.
Dean looked horrified by that thought. "Don't say things like that."
"Come on Dean, you have to admit that keeping this just screams proud daddy." said Pepper. "And look at how happy drawing Dean and Sammy are, huh?"
Dean rolled his eyes and shook his head. The significance of the picture starting to loose interest for him.
"You think dad has anything else in here like that?" Sam asked
"Maybe we could come back." Pepper suggested. "You know, after we get back whatever was stolen. It'll be like going to a garage sale only we won’t have to pay for anything. We could grab your soccer trophy, and Dean's sawed off."
"This isn't a shopping mall, Pep." said Dean. "This stuff belongs to dad. I don't think he'd appreatiate it if you took half of what's in here out."
"I'm not going to take half of it. Just the childhood memories. The guns and land mines can stay."
"Good luck getting Dad to agree to that."
"I never said I was going to ask for John's permission." Pepper grinned. "Besides, I can just tell him it's for the baby. Then he's bound to agree."
Dean shook his head and turned away so that they wouldn’t see his own smile at the idea of his father John Winchester, turning into putty before Pepper because she brought up the subject of his grandchild.
"Do we know what's been taken yet?" Pepper asked Sam.
"Yeah, one of the hex boxes." he replied.
"Let's go see if this place as any security cameras." Dean suggested.
He led the way out of the container and when they were all out he locked it back up again. He placed the key into his pocket, knowing that Pepper was serious about coming back later and picking some things up.
"What do we do if the security cameras give us something to go off?" Pepper asked as the three of them climbed back into the elevator.
"Well, if we find out who broke in, Sam and I will go after them." said Dean. "Then you're going to the motel."
"Let's just hope they haven’t opened the box." Sam added.
"And if they have?" Pepper asked, just as the elevator stopped on their floor.
Dean shrugged on a half sigh.
Together they walked out into the main lobby area where the front desk clerk was waiting for them.
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Dean found the closest motel to the storage locker, booked a room with two beds and left Pepper while he and Sam sort out the guys responsible for the missing box.
They'd found the two men easily since the idiots had parked out the front of the storage container where there license plate could clearly be seen.
It was...eventful. One moment Sam and Dean were getting their asses kicked and the next the two thieves were stumbling around like complete loons. All because of a rabbits’ foot. Dean was getting excited about the whole concept and couldn't wait to tell Pepper.
By the time they got back to the motel it had just turned 7am and Pepper was fast asleep on one of the beds. Dean practically bounced down onto the bed and shook her shoulder.
"Pep. Pepper, come on wake up." He called out.
Pepper frowned and tried to burry her face into the pillow but Dean was being precedent. Knowing that she wouldn't get any sleep until she at least opened her eyes.
"This better be important, Dean." Pepper mumbled as she half turned to look up at Dean. The huge grin on his face was eerie. "You're grinning. Why are you grinning? Did you get the box back?"
"Oh we got better than that. Sam, show her."
Sam sighed, reached into his pocket and pulled out the rabbit’s foot as he sat down on the edge of the other bed. Pepper stared at it for a minute before her brain register what it actually was. She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed so she was directly in front of Sam.
"That's a rabbit’s foot..." She said slowly. Turning back around to Dean she added, "Why does Sammy have a rabbit’s foot?"
"Because that is what was in the hex box that was stolen." Dean replied.
"So out of everything there -the guns, the mines, the other hex boxes filled with god knows what- they stole a piece of dead animal?" Pepper asked skeptically.
"It's not just any rabbit’s foot." Dean said quickly. "It actually works."
Pepper frowned slightly and stared at Dean.
"It does!" Dean protested. At Pepper's look he sighed and stood up. "You'll get it when you're more awake. Anyway, I've gotta do something so I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Where are you going?" Sam asked, turning his head to follow Dean as he walked to the door.
"I gotta pick something up." Dean replied. "When I get back we'll go out for breakfast."
Dean flashed them another grin before he disappeared out the door.
Sam slowly turned back around to Pepper, placing the rabbit’s foot back into his pocket and gave her an awkward smile.
Pepper sighed heavily. She lent forward and placed an elbow on her knee, and placing her chin in her hand.
"He's your brother." she said
"Yeah, well...he's the father of your baby." was Sam's smart come back.
Pepper smiled, "Ah yes but he was your brother first."
Sam chuckled and shook his head.
"I think I'm gonna grab a quick shower before Dean get's back." Sam said after a few minutes.
Pepper nodded as Sam stood up. She lay back down and closed her eyes.
As Sam took a quick shower the rabbit’s foot remained in his jacket pocket untouched.
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By the time Dean came back, carrying a brown paper bag, Sam was sitting on his bed while Pepper was walking out of the bathroom, pulling her long hair back into a high pony-tail. Pepper was wearing a dark purple dress that wasn't too big but it was just big enough to hide her baby bump.
"You took your time." Pepper said when she saw Dean. "Where'd you go anyway?"
Dean grinned and swiftly pulled out a handful of scratch cards from the bag.
"Dean, come on-" Sam began
"What?" He asked innocently. "Hey, that was my gun that guy was aimin' at your head and my gun don't jam."
"That's true." Pepper agreed, nodding her head.
"See. So that was a lucky break. Not to mention them taking themselves out, also a lucky break."
Sam still wasn't convinced. There was always something more to these things and this rabbit’s foot wasn't going to be any different.
Dean walked over to Sam and stuck one card in front of his face. "Here, scratch one.'
Sam frowns, and looks up at Dean.
"Come on, Sam." Dean begins waving the card around. "Scratch and win."
Reluctantly, Sam takes the card, pulls out a quarter and begins to scratch. Dean smirks in triumph and sits down besides him.
"Dean, it's gotta be cursed somehow. Otherwise dad wouldn't have locked it up." Sam protested but continued to scratch
Pepper moves to stand beside Dean. Lightly running her fingers through his hair. Dean turned his head, from looking over Sam's shoulder to Pepper. He took in what she was wearing before looking into her eyes.
"You don't look pregnant in that dress." He informed her.
She was about to say something when Sam handed his scratch card back to Dean without looking at his winnings. Dean looked down at the results and gaped.
"1200 dollars." He said. Turning to look at Sam as a large smile spread across his face. "You just won 1200 dollars."
Dean whistled in excitement and Pepper took the scratch card to get a better look at it herself. After a moment, she handed the card back to Dean.
"I don't know, man. Doesn't seem that cursed to me." Dean said with a grin before handing Sam another card.
"I'm not going to scratch lottery cards for you all day, Dean." Sam warned
"Oh but, come on..." Dean paused before placing a hand gently on Pepper's hidden bulge. "...Think of the baby."
Pepper swatted his hand away in annoyance, although she couldn't stop the tiny smile that curved her lips. Sam took yet another card and started to scratch it.
"Hold on, Dean." said Pepper. "You promised us breakfast."
"Right, well you can scratch and win in the car Sammy." Dean flashed another grin and stood up.
Sam rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath.
"Can we at least call Dad, before we go to see what he can tell us about the foot?" Sam asked.
"Ah, John said he wouldn't be reachable for the next few days." Explained Pepper. "He said to call granddad if we ran into trouble."
"And how is this trouble?" asked Dean. "Sammy, you've got complete good luck. You're set for life."
"And you're not thinking about the consequences." replied Sam. He stood up and placed his hands in his pocket, double checking that the rabbit’s foot was still there. "Fine, let's just go to breakfast and I'll call Bobby on the way."
"And the scratch cards?" Dean asked hopefully.
Sam let out a frustrated sigh before snatching the bag from Dean. He was extremely annoyed at Dean and didn't really want to sit there scratching cards all day but, he knew that having that extra money around would be good for when the baby came and he'd feel selfish if he didn't at least attempt to get them more money. Didn't mean he couldn't act annoyed towards Dean.
As Sam walked past them out the front door, Pepper was shaking her head slightly at Dean.
"What?" He asked innocently.
"Let's just go get breakfast."
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Dean had past a restaurant on his way to pick up the scratch cards and decided to just go there for breakfast. As they drove, Pepper sat in the back going over the handful of cards that Sam had scratched, while Sam himself was calling Bobby.
"Hello," came Bobby's voice over the line.
"Hi, Bobby. Sam here."
"Sam. Everything okay, how's my granddaughter?" Bobby asked.
Whenever they spoke to Bobby his first concern was always Pepper.
"Ah, well" Sam began, looking back at Pepper. "We're not sure yet."
"What?" Bobby demanded and Sam could hear a hint of panic in the older man's voice.
"Oh no I didn't mean...Pepper's fine." Sam said quickly
"Next time start with that." said Bobby. "Now what's wrong?"
"Well we're at Black Rock, outside of Buffalo"
"Yeah I know it. John send you there?"
"Yeah he...Wait, Bobby do you know why we're here?"
"I'd take a guess and say it's got something to do with ya dad's storage locker. Right?"
"Right. So, look dad's unreachable and the place was broken into. They didn't take much just one of the curses boxes. We've got it back thought but we were wondering if you had any information for us?"
"What was in the box?" Bobby asked, just as Dean pulled the Impala into an empty park outside of Big Gerson's sizzlin' grill & bar.
Dean was the first out of the car and he hopped forward slightly to open Pepper's door for her. As she got out Dean gestured for the scratch cards with a wide grin. She rolled her eyes but handed the tickets over just the same.
"There was a rabbit’s foot in the box." Sam replied.
He also got out of the car, and took a few steps away while Dean began arranging the scratch cards on the hood of the Impala. Pepper leaned forward resting her arms on the car.
"Oh, just get the box back to storage and lock the place up again." Bobby instructed.
"Right, it's just that the thing is I sort of..." Sam trailed off to a mumble.
"You didn't touch the foot with your bare hands did you?" Bobby asked.
Sam quickly glanced over at Dean, who was practically bouncing for joy over the amount of money they'd won.
"Oh, man." Dean chuckled.
"You touched it!" Bobby nearly yelled, bringing Sam's attention back to him. "How could you touch it? Didn't you realize that it was in a curse box for a reason?"
"Look, Bobby we didn't know."
"Damn it Sam."
"Well dad never told us about this thing." Sam said defensively. "How were we supposed to know? We didn't even know that you knew about this place."
"Of course I knew about it. Hell I built those curse boxes for him." Bobby replied. "Listen, you have got a serious problem. That rabbit’s foot aint no dime store notion. It's real hoodoo.'
As Sam listened to Bobby, something on the ground caught his eye. He bent down to see what it was and was surprised to find a gold (real looking) watch. He picked it up and turned around to show Dean.
'Awesome!' Dean mouthed.
"...Old world stuff. Made about a hundred years ago." Bobby continued.
"It's a hell of a luck charm" Sam muttered.
"It's not a luck charm it's a curse!" Bobby half yelled once again. "It was made to kill people, Sam." He let out a quick huff of breath before continuing. "See, you touch it, you own it. You own it sure you get a run of good luck to beat the devil, but you loose it that luck turns. It turns so bad that you're dead within a week."
"Well then I won’t loose it."
"Everybody looses it!"
"Then how do we break the curse?" Sam asked.
Bobby paused, "I don't know if you can. Look, let me go through my library and make some calls. In the meantime, sit tight and it you do loose the foot you as hell had better stay away from Pepper. I don't want your stupidity to affect my granddaughter or my future great-grandchild." He warned. "Understand me?"
"Yep." Sam replied quickly with a short nod.
"I'll call you when I have something." Then Bobby hung up.
Sam slowly turned towards Dean and Pepper.
"Dude, we're up 15 grand!" Dean excitedly informed him.
Sam sighed as he walked towards them.
"Ah, Bobby said the foot is cursed.”
Pepper frowned and stood up, "Cursed in what way?" she asked
"Well, if I loose it my luck will turn so bad that I may die."
The grin immediately disappeared from Dean's face. "He looses it, and you're not going anywhere near him." He told Pepper.
Sam chose not to tell Dean that Bobby had the same idea.
"What else did Granddad say?"
"He's looking into how to destroy it. He wants us to sit tight until then. So I guess we should head back to the motel."
"Well I still want breakfast and as long as you keep the foot in your pocket, Sammy, we should be fine. Right?" Pepper asked.
"Um, I guess." Sam nodded slightly.
"Good," Pepper smiled.
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Dean opens the door to the 'Big Gerson's grill & bar' for Pepper before he and Sam quickly followed her inside.
"Don't worry," Dean said, seeing the reluctance on Sam's face. "Bobby, will find a way to break it. Until then I say we his Vegas." He grinned.
"Of course you do." said Pepper.
"Think about it, we could pull a little rain man. Sammy you can be rain man."
"Look we just lay low until Bobby calls. Okay?" asked Sam.
"Fine." Dean sighed.
They walked up to the counter where an old man with a large cheesy grin sat behind a cash register.
"Hi, ah table for three please." Sam asked the man.
"Congratulations!" The man yelled excitedly.
He pushed a button and an alarm sounded.
"Exciting I know." Dean muttered sarcastically.
"-You are the one millionth guests at the 'Big Gerson's' restaurant family!" The man yelled, with an even larger cheesy grin than before.
There was a large pop before balloons and streamers began falling from the ceiling. Pepper jumped suddenly in surprise and unconsciously moved a fraction closer to Dean. The man pulled an over sized check from underneath the counter and handed it to Sam and Dean. Behind him, three other employees join him and they start singing and taking pictures.
Pepper frowned and turned her head to look down at the check. It wasn't for money but for a year’s supply of free food. She looked back up at the boys. Sam looked startled while Dean seemed pretty pleased with himself.
After a minute of photo taking and singing the alarm stopped and all of the Gerson's employees beamed at them.
"Now, why don't I show you to our best booth?" The man behind the counter offered.
One of the other mail employees walked around to the other side of the counter and took a hold of the giant check.
"-Will keep this with us while you all enjoy you're first free meal."
"Thanks." Sam said slowly, handing the check over.
Dean rubbed his hands together, excited over the concept of a year’s supply of free food. Even if they weren't going to be around for a week let alone a year to get the free food.
They were seated at a booth on the other side of the restaurant against a large window. Pepper and Dean slid onto one seat and Sam sat on the opposite side. A waitress handed them a menu each and walked away.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Half an hour later, they were just finishing their deserts; well Dean was finishing his third desert while Sam and Pepper waited for him. Both Sam and Dean were drinking a cup of coffee each while Pepper sipped on a glass of mango and apricot juice.
Sam had gotten his laptop out of the car and was currently looking over the mythology of lucky rabbit’s feet.
"Well, Bobby's right." Sam announced right before closing the lid of his laptop. "This law goes way back. Pure hoodoo. You can't just cut a foot of any rabbit; it had to be in a cemetery under a full moon on a Friday the 13th."
"I kind of feel sorry for the rabbit's." said Pepper.
Dean was too busy stuffing his face and finishing off his mouthful to answer.
"I say from now on we only go to places with biggersens." He announced.
Dean took another few mouthfuls very quickly they suddenly scrunched his face when he was hit with a brain freeze. As he placed a palm to his forehead Sam laughed.
"Serves you right for hovering down your food." said Pepper.
"Thanks for the sympathy." Dean mumbled
Pepper grinned. She tapped Dean's shoulder lightly. "Shift over; I'm going to the bathroom."
Dean slid out of the booth and stood up until Pepper walked past him. When he sat back down, Sam was shaking his head in amusement.
"What?" Dean demanded.
"Nothing." Sam replied quickly. "Just thinking how great it is to have Pepper around."
"That's because she always likes you so she never gets annoyed at you." Dean explained. "A-n-d she never picks on you either."
"Oh I feel so bad for you." Sam joked.
Dean glared at his brother and drank the rest of his coffee as a young, very attractive short haired waitress approached them. She leaned down a little to close to Sam, with her eyes sparkling. She carried a pot of coffee in one hand.
"Can I freshen you up?" She asked Sam
"Yeah. Yeah sure." Sam nodded and pushed his cup towards her.
She grinned and kept eye contact as she re-filled his cup. Dean watched the exchange between his brother and the waitress and hid his smirk behind his own cup. He jumped back when she spilled coffee over the table and a little on Sam.
"Oh." She gasped in surprised.
"Oh, oh no don't worry." Sam assured her. "I got it."
The waitress slowly smiled at Sam and pulled a cloth out of her apron. She lifted Sam's cup and wiped up the spilled coffee.
"It's not trouble. Really." She told Sam as she finished cleaning up.
With one final flirtatious smile, the waitress stood up, placed the cloth back into her apron and slowly turned. Walking away with her hips swinging from side to side. Both Sam and Dean placed their arms on the table and leaned forward to get a better look at her.
"Dude, if you were ever going to get lucky" Dean said, as his eyes tracked the waitress.
"Sure," Sam shrugged in disbelief. He sat up and noticed that Dean was still watching the waitress. He smirked suddenly. "Hey, Pepper."
Dean sat up wide eyed. "I wasn't looking at anything!" He said quickly.
He spun around and frowned when Pepper wasn't there. Behind him, Sam burst out laughing. Dean turned back around and glared at him. Sam was too busy laughing when he went to grab his coffee causing it to spill all over him.
"Oh, oh jeeze" Sam mumbled, standing up suddenly and walking right into an on coming waiter.
The waiter's tray is tossed up and everything on it falls to the floor with a loud crash.
"Sorry." Sam apologized and quickly turned to Dean with a shocked look on his face.
Dean looks at the mess in puzzle. Slowly he looks up at Sam. "How is that good?" He asks.
Realization dawns on Sam. He puts his hand into his jacket pocket and feels...nothing. He pulls the pocket inside out to show Dean that the rabbit’s foot is gone. Sam watches as the same realization comes to Dean.
"Son of a bitch!" Dean shouts angrily before jumping out of his chair and leading the way to the restaurant front doors.
They pushed passed some new customers as they stepped outside of 'Big Gerson's' restaurant. Dean quickly scanned the aria around them but saw no sign of the waitress. He made a random, quick decision.
"Come on," He called out to Sam before running off to the left.
Dean was running in front, with Sam close behind them but when Sam stepped off the curb he tripped...
"Whoa!" Sam yelled
He didn't really trip on anything. Just his own two feet, but still managed to land pretty hard on his knees. Dean didn't see Sam go down but he heard it and he stopped in his tracks. Slowly, Dean turned around to see Sam lying face down on the pavement.
"Wow," Dean sighed. "You suck."
Dean walked over and grabbed hold of Sam's arms, helping him up.
"So, what now your luck turns bad?" Dean asked
Sam frowned and looked down at his knees which are hurting like hell. He grimaces because they look as bad as they feel. His jeans are torn and the skins of his knees are bloodied.
"I guess."
"I wonder how bad." said Dean. "Wait here. I'm gonna go get Pepper, and you are staying far away from her."
Sam nodded and carefully sat down on the curb. Dean gave him one last look before he ran back inside the restaurant. Pepper was looking a little nervous, and really he couldn't blame her. She had just come out of the bathroom to find both he and Sam gone. He quickly made his way over to her.
"Pep!" He called out.
She spun around and he saw her physically relax.
"Where the hell were you?" She demanded when he came towards her. "I come back and you and Sammy are both gone. Do you know how stressful that is to a pregnant woman?"
"Pep, come on, we gotta go." He replied quickly, grabbing her arm and tugging her towards the door.
"What? Why what's happen?"
"Someone stole the foot."
Once out the doors, Dean led Pepper towards the right side of the restaurant and far away from Sam. He didn't want to take the chance that just being near Sam, would cause harm to her or the baby.
"Well where's Sam?" She asked in a slight panic.
"Waiting around the other side and away from you, like a good future-uncle." Dean replied quickly as they got to the Impala.
"Dean, you can't just leave him here." Pepper protested just as Dean opened the passenger door for her. "What if something happens?"
"I'm gonna come back." Dean replied. "But I just want to make sure you're safe first. Okay?"
Pepper nodded and got into the car. Once she was in, Dean ran around and got into the drivers seat. He started the car and pulled his cell out at the same time. Hitting speed-dial one, he placed his phone to his ear.
"Sam? Just stay where you are..." Dean talked quickly. "...No don't touch anything, don't talk to anyone until I get back...Well I don't know...pretend you're blind or some crap like that man...We're going back to the motel then you and I are going to get that foot back."
With that, Dean hung up and tossed his phone onto the seat between himself and Pepper. As they drove Pepper turned to look at him, a slight frown on her face.
"Is Sammy, really going to be okay by himself?" She asked
Dean gave a half shrug in response before adding, "Well it’s a bit late now to go back. We're almost at the motel."
"You do know that this is your fault for acting so cocky about the whole thing." Pepper pointed out.
Dean didn't reply as he parked the car outside of their motel room and got out. He helped Pepper inside as quickly as he could. He needed to protect her and he needed to go back and protect Sam, but since Pepper was carrying his child he had to make sure she was safe first. Sam could wait. Once they were inside, Dean did a quick check of the room to make sure that there was nothing there that could be hazarded.
"Dean, I'm not the one with the bad luck." said Pepper, trying to get Dean to stop.
"I know..."
He continued to look and once he was satisfied he moved to stand in front of her. Staring straight into her crystal blue eyes.
"Stay here, okay?" He asked, even though he knew that she wouldn’t go anywhere. "Sam and I will get the foot back. Hopefully after that Sam will have good luck again."
"If not?" Pepper asked.
Dean sighed. "Then I don't know, but we'll work it out. Maybe Bobby will have figured something out." He offered her a small smile. "I'll see you when we get back."
Pepper nodded, wrapped one hand around the back of his neck and pulled him towards her for a quick kiss. When she pulled back she felt Dean sigh against her lips.
"Keep an eye on, Sammy. I want you both to come back safe." She whispered.
He nodded, kissed her forehead before leaving.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Dean picked Sam up from the outside of the restaurant, half of Sam's shirt was covered in strawberry thick shake from when an elderly woman ran into him. Dean would have made him change shirts but all of their bags where back at the motel. This only left Dean with the option of having the Impala smell like strawberries for the rest of the night, and as soon as Sam's luck was back to normal he'd have to fix it.
Dean drove them back to the apartment building of the two thieves who had stolen the foot from John's storage locker. He knew that if anyone would know who the woman was who stole the foot it'd have to be them.
On their way up the stairs (Dean wasn't going to risk getting stuck in the elevator because of Sam's bad luck) they heard two of the building's tenants’ mention the tragic death of a young man, and Dean and Sam could both figure out that it was one of the thieves.
When they got to the apartment Dean did all of the talking while Sam tripped up on his own two feet and flew head first into the carpet. Dean managed to manipulate the man into giving them the name of who hired them. Once they got a name, Dean and Sam left and headed outside towards the parked Impala.
"So, um what do we do now?" Sam asked
"We try to find this chick," Dean replied as he pulled out his cell. "Steal the foot back from her."
Sam glanced down at the phone in Dean's hand.
"You gonna call Pepper?" He asked.
Dean paused and turned back to look at Sam. He rolled his eyes on a half sigh and began to dial. Before he got the third number in however, his phone began to ring.
"Hello" Dean answered.
"Dean," came Bobby's upbeat voice. "Great news."
Dean's lips curled in a slight smile and continued walking towards the Impala. He didn't notice Sam step into a huge chunk of pink gum on the ground. Sam looked down at his shoe and frowned.
"Wasn't easy, but I found a heavy weight cleansing ritual that should do the trick." Bobby explained to Dean.
"Bobby, that's great, 'cept Sam, ah..." Dean trailed off, looked behind him and down at Sam's gum covered shoe. His He scrounged his face up in disgust at the used chewed candy. "...Sam lost the foot-"
"He what!" Bobby demanded. "Where's Pepper? If he goes near her--
Bobby's voice rising so high that Dean had to pull the phone away from his ear for a fraction of a second. He quickly placed the phone back against his ear so he could reassure the older man about Pepper.
"-Pepper's fine. She's back at the motel, and Sam and I are on the other half of town. Right, Bobby listen, this...hot chick stole the foot from Sam."
"A chick?" Bobby asked, checking to see if he had heard Dean right.
"Seriously." Dean replied quickly. "She'd be in her mid twenties, and she was sharp. You know, good enough with a con to play us. And she only gave the guys she hired a name, probably an alias or something..." Dean trailed off and tried to remember the name himself. When he couldn't he turned to Sam.
While on the phone, Dean hadn't noticed that Sam had walked further away to a metal grate on the ground. Dean quickly looked down and saw Sam roughly scraping his shoe desperately trying to get rid of the gum.
"Luigy or something?" Dean told Bobby while at the same time asking Sam the question.
"Lugosi." Sam corrected.
Dean nodded, turned back around and repeated the name for Bobby encase he hadn't heard Sam.
"Lugosi? Lugosi..." Bobby mumbled and Dean knew he was trying to figure out if he knew the name from somewhere. "...Oh crap, it's probably Bella."
"Bella Lugosi?" Dean asked on a small, disbelieving smirk. "That's cute."
Behind Dean, Sam swore under his breath but Dean didn't turn around to see what the problem was. His curiosity for knowing just who this Bella is over weighing the need to know what his little brother had done now.
"Bella Talbot's her real name." said Bobby. "Crossed paths with her once or twice."
"She knew about the rabbit’s foot. Is she a hunter?" Dean asked
"Pretty far from a hunter." Bobby scoffed. "But she knows her way around the territory. She's been out of the country, last I heard she was in the Middle East some place."
"Yeah, well I guess she's back."
"Which means seriously bad luck for you."
"Great," Dean sighed sarcastically and closed his eyes.
"But, if it is Bella," Bobby began. "At least I might know some folks who know where to find her."
"Thanks, Bobby." Dean opened his eyes and smile slightly. "Again."
"Dean, I'm guessing Pepper didn't see Bella when she managed to steal the foot from Sam." Bobby stated.
Dean frowned because that wasn't a question.
"No, she didn't she was in the bathroom. Um, Bobby how did you know that?" Dean asked slowly.
"Doesn't matter."
"No, come on Bobby?"
"Okay," Bobby sighed. "I know because if Pepper had seen Bella, she would have been able to tell you who she was."
"Oh, so they've met? Like when Pep was with you?"
Bobby let out a sarcastic 'HA!'
"Trust me I had nothing to do with the two of them meeting." said Bobby quickly. "They've spent some time together. They have a history."
"A history?" Dean repeated. "What the hell does that mean?"
"Look, Dean it's not really my place to say. You'll have to ask Pepper."
"No, Bobby man you can't just leave it there" Dean pleaded desperately. "What kind of history do they have?"
"Dean, ask Pepper. Okay." Bobby said firmly. "She may or may not give you an answer. If she doesn't then just leave it at that."
"Um, okay...." Dean nodded slowly.
"And look out for ya brother." Bobby added. "Ya idgit"
Dean lowered the phone and pressed the end call button. He was intrigued. There was nothing that he could think of that would place Pepper and this Bella in close range of each other, other than if Pepper was with Bobby but he had denied that theory.
Dean turned back around to Sam, with a deep expression of confusion on his face which disappeared when he saw the sad frown on Sam's face.
"What?" Dean asked.
"I lost my shoe." Sam admitted.
Dean glanced down to where Sam was wriggling his sock covered foot. Dean rolled his eyes, turned around and let out an exasperated sigh before walking over to the Impala.
"You are hopeless." Dean told Sam as they both get into the car.
Sam ignored him and instead asked, "So what did Bobby say?"
"Ah, the chick's name is Bella Talbot."
"Is she a hunter?"
Dean shook his head. "Bobby says she's not. He's looking into how to find her for us. He's also got a way for us to destroy the foot, which should get your luck back to normal."
"So where are we going now?"
"Back to the motel."
"I thought you didn't want me near Pepper?" Sam asked in confusion.
"I don't, but you need shoes, a new shirt and I won’t leave you alone unless I have too." said Dean. "Besides you're staying outside of the room while I go inside."
"Oh,"
"Beside's I have to ask Pepper something." Dean added, but his voice had softened almost as if he were talking to himself.
"What?" Sam asked
"Huh? Oh, um nothing just something Bobby said about Bella."
"Yeah what?"
"Apparently Pepper knows her and they have a history."
Sam frowned and shifted slightly in his seat to get a better look at Dean.
"But I thought Pepper didn't know anyone in the hunting business besides Ellen." said Sam. "And I mean, I know this Bella isn’t a hunter but she's still, you know, involved with it."
"That's why I want to ask her." Dean replied.
continued in part 2
TITLE - Expecting
CHAPTER - Lucky Days 4/10 - part 1 (long chapter)
AUTHOR - ICantBelieveImNotButter
GENRE - Alternate reality, Family, Romance
FANDOM - Supernatural
CHARACTERS - Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Bobby Singer, John Winchester, OFC
PAIRINGS - Dean/OFC
RATING - M
SPOILERS - None
WORD COUNT - 8858
SUMMARY - Dean and Sam's lives have always been different and with Dean's pregnant girlfriend joining them life’s going to get a lot more interesting.
WARNINGS - AU story - Draft - all mistakes are mine
BETA - N/A
A/N - This chapter is my version of the season 3 episode ‘Bad Day At Black Rock’ again with my added twist and of course if something from the episode isn’t here I couldn’t be bothered to write it so pretend. Although this chapter has a lot more of my story and characters twisted in than the previous one did.
Inspired a little bit by Katy Perry’s song ‘I kissed a girl’ because it was stuck in my head when I wrote this
DISCLAIMER - All things relating to the Supernatural series are the property of Eric Kripke. No copyright infringement is intended.
CHAPTER FOUR - LUCKY DAYS
Pepper walked around the medium sized motel room they were staying in. A glass of water in one hand; the other resting against the small bump under her shirt. Her baby was growing and developing nicely. The last sonogram scan they had done was still sitting in the Impala's glove box after Dean had been looking at it while Sam drove here. Pepper would have to send a copy of it to Bobby, Ellen and John when she got the chance. All three of them wanted to know how everything was going with the baby, well Bobby and Ellen had asked but Pepper had decided to send John as many photo's as she could anyway.
It had been hours since they'd stopped for a break and Pepper was getting a little bored. She was waiting for Dean and Sam to recover so that she could at least talk to them about where they were going next but they were still sitting on the small sofa in front of the TV. Both staring at the screen even though the program they'd been watching had finished 20 minutes ago.
Pepper sighed and was about to open her mouth when Dean's cell phone rang. She jumped slightly at the sound before half turning and walking into the small kitchen. She placed her glass down on the sink and picked Dean's phone up from the oval shaped table, checking the caller ID before pressing the call button.
"Hi, John" She answered warmly. She couldn't help but be in a good mood.
"Ah, hello Pepper." said John. He really was expecting Dean so hearing Pepper's voice was a bit of a surprise. "Can I talk to Dean?"
"Oh he's busy right now. He and Sammy are recovering."
"Recovering from what?" John asked, slightly startled. The last he heard they were simply hunting a possessed janitor at a school. Nothing too big or dangerous. "Are they okay?"
"Well physically they're both fine, but mentally..." Pepper trailed off, half on a laugh.
"Why?"
"Because they just watched a birthing video that I picked up. A very graphic birthing video." Pepper replied.
There was a pause where John tried to get his head around that.
"Sam and Dean willingly watched that?" He asked.
After witnessing the birth of his two sons he knew just how...horrifying the miracle of birth could be. He wouldn't think any man would choose to witness it unless they had to.
"They didn't really have a choice. They're being punished." She informed.
"For what?" John had to know. "What did they do?"
"Dean made some comment about me being fat or something," Pepper replied half-handily. "And Sammy smirked, sooo as punishment they had to watch the video."
"I'm sure Dean didn't mean it as an insult."
"Oh I know he didn't. But, you know, still." Pepper half shrugged.
John couldn't help but chuckle loudly at that. He wondered how his sons coped with the images they had just seen.
"Could you give 'em a message for me?" John asked
"Yeah, of course," Pepper smiled.
"I've got a storage locker just outside of Buffalo, which has been broken into." said John. "I'm too far away to get to it myself. I need Dean and Sam to check it out for me. Make sure what they took wasn't something too dangerous. Here's the address--"
Pepper quickly grabbed a pen and scribbled the address on the back of a recite.
"I didn't know you had a storage container. What's in it?" She asked as she placed the pen down.
"Just, important thinks I've collected over the years." John quickly replied. "You think you'll be able to get there? I've already let them know that I'm sending a couple of my associates in my place and I've convinced them not to call the police."
"Yes. We should be able to get there soon. Did you want us to call you when we've found what’s been taken?"
"You might not be able to reach me. I'm just about to enter a town with very little reception." He explained. "But I should only be here for three to four days. If you run into any kind of trouble just call Bobby. He'll know about most of what’s in the container."
"Oh alright then."
"Thank you Pepper. And, ah...thanks, for the photo you sent me." John mumbled quickly.
He was still excited at the thought of becoming a grandfather but he knew that he couldn't seem too excited or Dean would know that something was up and that could lead to everyone finding out that he was the one who had got Pepper to the hospital that day. He was also a little nervous when talking to Pepper. Even though she seemed nice and she would be a part of their lives from now on he was just not used to her just yet. Maybe he never would be. He did appreciate the effort she was making to keep him in the loop of the baby's progress even though he never had the guts to ask.
Pepper smiled brightly, even though John couldn't see it and Sam and Dean weren't paying attention.
"You're welcome. Well, I'll let you get back to what you were doing."
"Okay." John nodded, then as an after thought added, "And try to go easy on Dean and Sam. You're the only pregnant woman they've ever really been around. It'll take them awhile to become as sensitive as they should be."
Pepper chuckled, "I think you're right. Okay. Bye."
She hung up and grinned while shaking her head. Turning around she saw Dean and Sam still in the same position, staring at the television. Pepper rolled her eyes and stood up. She walked towards them pausing to turn the TV off and then stood in front of it with her arms crossed. Neither man registers her.
"How are we doing' boys?" She asked smugly.
"Ah..." began Sam but then closed his mouth again.
"Did we learn our lesson, or do we need to watch the video again--"
"--No!" Dean and Sam shouted at the same time. Finally coming out of their trances.
"We've learnt our lesson." Sam assured her quickly.
"Just don't show us that ever, ever again." Dean begged looking at her with wide eyes.
"I don't know why you're both so upset by it. I mean it's not as if either of you have to go through it." Pepper pouted.
"Oh," Sam frowned. He'd never thought about that. He was glad at that moment that he'd never have to see anything like that again. Unlike Dean who would probably be in the delivery room when the baby was born. "Sorry."
"Yeah. Me too." said Dean as he stood up. He walked around Pepper and grabbed the video tape out of the VCR. Holding it out in front of him he asked "Can we bury this thing in a 20 foot grave?"
"Awe my poor traumatized baby." Pepper said in a patronizing tone.
"I'm not traumatized."
"You were staring at a blank TV for so long that you didn't even notice when your cell rang."
"My cell rang?" Dean asked. He really hadn't heard anything at all (just the screams from the video echoing in his head.) "Who was it?"
"You're father." Pepper replied. "He's got a storage container outside of Buffalo that's been broken into. He want's us to go sort it out."
"A storage container?" Sam asked frowning in confusion. He looked up at Dean. "Dad ever tell you he kept a container in a storage place?"
"Um, no." said Dean. "Dad tell you what was in it?"
Pepper shook her head. "Not really. He just said it was important items and things that he's collected over the years."
"Guess we're going to Buffalo then." said Dean.
Seven minutes later, their bags were packed and they were heading out the door of their motel room.
"It’s gonna be a long drive." said Sam as he placed the last bag into the boot. "We're nearly five hours away from Buffalo. It'll be morning by the time we get there."
Sam closed the boot and walked around to the passenger side. He was already in the car by the time Dean was opening his door. Pepper stood behind him ready to get in the back.
"You gonna be right in the car for that long?" Dean asked her.
"I'll let you know if I'm not."
Pepper reached forward and ran one hand around the back of Dean's neck before tugging him down towards her and kissing him passionately. Dean couldn't help but smirk into the kiss knowing that he was fully forgiven for his little fat comment. Just as he was about to pull her closer, Sam leaned over and blew the car horn in one short but loud 'honk'.
Pepper pulled back, biting her lip to stop from laughing. Dean didn't find it as amusing as she did.
As he got into the car, Dean turned to Sam.
"You are such a little brother sometimes." He told him.
Sam frowned while Pepper burst out laughing.
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By the time they reached the storage container and grabbed the spare keys from the front desk clerk it was 7.00 and the sun was up and shining.
Dean had wanted to drop Pepper off at one of the motel's close by but she refused. She wanted to see what John was keeping in storage which left Dean only one option, to let her come with them. He'd given her a warning to stay close. He trusted his dad but knew that anything could be down there. The three of them grabbed a flashlight each and headed down to the basement were the larger storage containers where.
"Man," Dean half chuckled, shaking his head.
"What?" asked Sam
"Just, Dad. You know him and his secrets." Dean replied. "We spend most of our lives with the guy and it's like we barely even know the man."
"Well," Pepper began just as the elevator stopped. "You're about to learn something."
The three of them stepped out of the elevator and headed down a past a long line of old and probably abandon containers.
"Which one is dads?" Sam asked
"Um," Pepper chewed her lip slightly and looked down the line of containers. When she spotted John's she held a hand up and pointed. "That one over there."
They headed towards it and Dean took the key to the lock out of his pocket. Once the door was opened they each scanned the room quickly with their flashlights. Sam was the first to notice the floor which had various markings in red to warn off demons.
"No demon's aloud." He muttered.
Dean and Pepper moved their gazes to the floor as well.
"Blood." said Dean indicating the many spots of splattered blood around the door. Noticing something he bends down to get a better look. "Check this out," He lightly touches a wire strung just above the floor.
Sam and Pepper follow the path of the wire with their flashlights.
"Ah" Pepper makes a noise of disbelief when she sees the wire connected to the trigger of a shot gun, in the mouth of some animal skull. "Home land security eat ya heart out."
"Dear old dad." Dean muttered.
"Whoever broke in here got tacked." said Sam as he returned his attention to the blood.
Dean was still bent down looking intently at the blood patterns. "I got two sets of boot treads here. Looks like it was a two man job."
"And unless there’s a body here -and god I hope there isn't- which ever one took the hit probably just kept walking." said Pepper.
"Yeah," Dean agreed and stood up. "Looks like it."
Dean and Sam carefully stepped over the wire, just encase it was connected to any other guns. While Sam continued walking, Dean stayed and turned around holding his hands out to Pepper. She took them in her own and aloud Dean to help guide her over the wire. Once she was on the other side, Dean let go of one of her hands and led her around the room. He wasn't usually the hand-holding type but being in an old, dark, dusty storage container full of who knows what made him a little edgy.
"So, what's the deal? Dad do work here or something?" Sam asked, as he moved around the room.
"Livin' the high life as usual." said Dean.
Slowly they made their way around the room looking at various things. Dean saw something small sitting on top of some papers that caught his eye. He let go of Pepper's hand to take a look at what it was. A small trophy with a little person kicking a ball on top.
"1995" Dean read the front of the trophy out loud.
Sam and Pepper both moved closer to get a better look.
"No way." Sam said in disbelief. He took the trophy from Dean to get a better look. A small smile tugged at his lips. "That's my division championship soccer trophy. I can't believe he kept this."
"Yeah, well that's the closest thing you ever came to being a 'boy'" Dean shrugged and moved on.
"I think its sweet, Sammy." Pepper said honestly
Sam looked up and Pepper and smiled. Behind them, Dean was looking over a small table. Suddenly he sees something very interesting and picks it up.
"Oh wow!"
"What?" Sam asks, placing his trophy down and turning around to Dean.
Dean was grinning with pride as he held a gun in his hand. "It's my first sawed off." He explained. "I made it myself. Six grade."
He cocks the gun and laughs slightly as he remembers making it. Pepper walks towards him with an amused grin on her face.
"Oh, you're just a goofy little child inside, aren’t ya?" She teased before kissing Dean's cheek.
Dean pouted and carefully put the gun down, not wanting to break it.
Eventually they found a caged off area with the lock broken. Sam opened the gate carefully and led the way inside. On the right hand wall was a handful of different types of guns and other weapons including...
"Holy crap!" Dean said amazed. "Look at this, he has land mines." He paused and moved closer to get a better look. "Which...they didn't take. Or the guns." He turned back around and shrugged. "I guess they knew what they were after huh?"
"Yeah, but what was it?" asked Pepper.
Sam used his flashlight to scan across the wall of guns before turning around to the other side. The left hand wall was covered in shelves that were filled with different sized boxes. Each box had a lock, and different types of white symbols carved into the tops.
"Hey, Dean. Check this out." Sam called over his shoulder.
Dean and Pepper both moved to stand beside Sam.
"See these symbols?" Sam continued
Pepper frowned, "What do they mean?" she asked as she reached a hand out to lightly trace on of the symbols.
"That's binding magic." Sam explained. "These are cursed boxes."
"Curse boxes." Dean nodded then looked down at Pepper. "They're supposed to keep the evil mojo in, Right?" He asked looking back at Sam. "Kinda like the Pandora deal."
"Yeah, yeah they're built to contain the power of the cursed object." Sam agreed.
Dean and Sam quickly scanned over all the boxes, neither noticed when Pepper headed out of the cage. Her interest peaked by something on the other way on the room. Figuring the boys wouldn't mind if she didn't want to look at the hexed boxes anymore.
Sam was the first one to notice the gap on the shelf where on box had been.
"One box is missing." He commented as he ran his finger over the surrounding dust. "Great."
"Well, maybe they didn't open it." Dean half shrugged.
"Aaah!"
Dean and Sam spun around after hearing the short scream. Panic written clearly across Dean's face when he couldn't see Pepper. Together they ran out of the cage and into the main area once again. The spotted Pepper in one corner leaning over a dusty looking table. Dean bolted towards her and nearly rammed his side into the table.
"What is it? Are you okay? Is the baby okay?" He asked in one long breath.
Pepper looked up at him and smiled, "Oh, yeah, no I'm fine."
Dean gaped at her. He ran a hand over his face then grabbed her shoulders, turning her to face him.
"Don't scream like that unless something is wrong, okay." He said as he got his breathing back to normal. "You just took 3 years off my life, Woman."
"Sorry." Pepper apologized. "I was just...well look at this." She turned back around and gestured at what she was looking at.
It was an A-4 piece of paper mostly covered in dust but what was on it was still visible. It was a child's drawing created with coloring pencils. The picture was of two people holding hands. One person bigger than the other and both with huge smiles on their faces. A bright yellow sun shining down on them. Above the smallest character was the word 'Me' and across the tall one 'My big brother Dean'. Pepper was gushing at the picture.
Dean frowned, "You screamed because of a kid's drawing?"
"Not just any kid's drawing." Pepper defended. She grabbed the pictured and held it in front of her chest for Dean and Sam to see. "A Sammy Winchester original."
"I don't remember doing that." said Sam as he leaned in to get a better look. "I can't believe that's even here. I thought dad would have tossed things like that in the bin."
"Awe," Pepper sighed. She turned the picture around and looked down at it herself. "Well, John did say that he kept important things in here..." She trailed off and chewed her bottom lip. "Oh, I think I just fell in love with you're father." She joked.
Dean looked horrified by that thought. "Don't say things like that."
"Come on Dean, you have to admit that keeping this just screams proud daddy." said Pepper. "And look at how happy drawing Dean and Sammy are, huh?"
Dean rolled his eyes and shook his head. The significance of the picture starting to loose interest for him.
"You think dad has anything else in here like that?" Sam asked
"Maybe we could come back." Pepper suggested. "You know, after we get back whatever was stolen. It'll be like going to a garage sale only we won’t have to pay for anything. We could grab your soccer trophy, and Dean's sawed off."
"This isn't a shopping mall, Pep." said Dean. "This stuff belongs to dad. I don't think he'd appreatiate it if you took half of what's in here out."
"I'm not going to take half of it. Just the childhood memories. The guns and land mines can stay."
"Good luck getting Dad to agree to that."
"I never said I was going to ask for John's permission." Pepper grinned. "Besides, I can just tell him it's for the baby. Then he's bound to agree."
Dean shook his head and turned away so that they wouldn’t see his own smile at the idea of his father John Winchester, turning into putty before Pepper because she brought up the subject of his grandchild.
"Do we know what's been taken yet?" Pepper asked Sam.
"Yeah, one of the hex boxes." he replied.
"Let's go see if this place as any security cameras." Dean suggested.
He led the way out of the container and when they were all out he locked it back up again. He placed the key into his pocket, knowing that Pepper was serious about coming back later and picking some things up.
"What do we do if the security cameras give us something to go off?" Pepper asked as the three of them climbed back into the elevator.
"Well, if we find out who broke in, Sam and I will go after them." said Dean. "Then you're going to the motel."
"Let's just hope they haven’t opened the box." Sam added.
"And if they have?" Pepper asked, just as the elevator stopped on their floor.
Dean shrugged on a half sigh.
Together they walked out into the main lobby area where the front desk clerk was waiting for them.
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Dean found the closest motel to the storage locker, booked a room with two beds and left Pepper while he and Sam sort out the guys responsible for the missing box.
They'd found the two men easily since the idiots had parked out the front of the storage container where there license plate could clearly be seen.
It was...eventful. One moment Sam and Dean were getting their asses kicked and the next the two thieves were stumbling around like complete loons. All because of a rabbits’ foot. Dean was getting excited about the whole concept and couldn't wait to tell Pepper.
By the time they got back to the motel it had just turned 7am and Pepper was fast asleep on one of the beds. Dean practically bounced down onto the bed and shook her shoulder.
"Pep. Pepper, come on wake up." He called out.
Pepper frowned and tried to burry her face into the pillow but Dean was being precedent. Knowing that she wouldn't get any sleep until she at least opened her eyes.
"This better be important, Dean." Pepper mumbled as she half turned to look up at Dean. The huge grin on his face was eerie. "You're grinning. Why are you grinning? Did you get the box back?"
"Oh we got better than that. Sam, show her."
Sam sighed, reached into his pocket and pulled out the rabbit’s foot as he sat down on the edge of the other bed. Pepper stared at it for a minute before her brain register what it actually was. She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed so she was directly in front of Sam.
"That's a rabbit’s foot..." She said slowly. Turning back around to Dean she added, "Why does Sammy have a rabbit’s foot?"
"Because that is what was in the hex box that was stolen." Dean replied.
"So out of everything there -the guns, the mines, the other hex boxes filled with god knows what- they stole a piece of dead animal?" Pepper asked skeptically.
"It's not just any rabbit’s foot." Dean said quickly. "It actually works."
Pepper frowned slightly and stared at Dean.
"It does!" Dean protested. At Pepper's look he sighed and stood up. "You'll get it when you're more awake. Anyway, I've gotta do something so I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Where are you going?" Sam asked, turning his head to follow Dean as he walked to the door.
"I gotta pick something up." Dean replied. "When I get back we'll go out for breakfast."
Dean flashed them another grin before he disappeared out the door.
Sam slowly turned back around to Pepper, placing the rabbit’s foot back into his pocket and gave her an awkward smile.
Pepper sighed heavily. She lent forward and placed an elbow on her knee, and placing her chin in her hand.
"He's your brother." she said
"Yeah, well...he's the father of your baby." was Sam's smart come back.
Pepper smiled, "Ah yes but he was your brother first."
Sam chuckled and shook his head.
"I think I'm gonna grab a quick shower before Dean get's back." Sam said after a few minutes.
Pepper nodded as Sam stood up. She lay back down and closed her eyes.
As Sam took a quick shower the rabbit’s foot remained in his jacket pocket untouched.
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By the time Dean came back, carrying a brown paper bag, Sam was sitting on his bed while Pepper was walking out of the bathroom, pulling her long hair back into a high pony-tail. Pepper was wearing a dark purple dress that wasn't too big but it was just big enough to hide her baby bump.
"You took your time." Pepper said when she saw Dean. "Where'd you go anyway?"
Dean grinned and swiftly pulled out a handful of scratch cards from the bag.
"Dean, come on-" Sam began
"What?" He asked innocently. "Hey, that was my gun that guy was aimin' at your head and my gun don't jam."
"That's true." Pepper agreed, nodding her head.
"See. So that was a lucky break. Not to mention them taking themselves out, also a lucky break."
Sam still wasn't convinced. There was always something more to these things and this rabbit’s foot wasn't going to be any different.
Dean walked over to Sam and stuck one card in front of his face. "Here, scratch one.'
Sam frowns, and looks up at Dean.
"Come on, Sam." Dean begins waving the card around. "Scratch and win."
Reluctantly, Sam takes the card, pulls out a quarter and begins to scratch. Dean smirks in triumph and sits down besides him.
"Dean, it's gotta be cursed somehow. Otherwise dad wouldn't have locked it up." Sam protested but continued to scratch
Pepper moves to stand beside Dean. Lightly running her fingers through his hair. Dean turned his head, from looking over Sam's shoulder to Pepper. He took in what she was wearing before looking into her eyes.
"You don't look pregnant in that dress." He informed her.
She was about to say something when Sam handed his scratch card back to Dean without looking at his winnings. Dean looked down at the results and gaped.
"1200 dollars." He said. Turning to look at Sam as a large smile spread across his face. "You just won 1200 dollars."
Dean whistled in excitement and Pepper took the scratch card to get a better look at it herself. After a moment, she handed the card back to Dean.
"I don't know, man. Doesn't seem that cursed to me." Dean said with a grin before handing Sam another card.
"I'm not going to scratch lottery cards for you all day, Dean." Sam warned
"Oh but, come on..." Dean paused before placing a hand gently on Pepper's hidden bulge. "...Think of the baby."
Pepper swatted his hand away in annoyance, although she couldn't stop the tiny smile that curved her lips. Sam took yet another card and started to scratch it.
"Hold on, Dean." said Pepper. "You promised us breakfast."
"Right, well you can scratch and win in the car Sammy." Dean flashed another grin and stood up.
Sam rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath.
"Can we at least call Dad, before we go to see what he can tell us about the foot?" Sam asked.
"Ah, John said he wouldn't be reachable for the next few days." Explained Pepper. "He said to call granddad if we ran into trouble."
"And how is this trouble?" asked Dean. "Sammy, you've got complete good luck. You're set for life."
"And you're not thinking about the consequences." replied Sam. He stood up and placed his hands in his pocket, double checking that the rabbit’s foot was still there. "Fine, let's just go to breakfast and I'll call Bobby on the way."
"And the scratch cards?" Dean asked hopefully.
Sam let out a frustrated sigh before snatching the bag from Dean. He was extremely annoyed at Dean and didn't really want to sit there scratching cards all day but, he knew that having that extra money around would be good for when the baby came and he'd feel selfish if he didn't at least attempt to get them more money. Didn't mean he couldn't act annoyed towards Dean.
As Sam walked past them out the front door, Pepper was shaking her head slightly at Dean.
"What?" He asked innocently.
"Let's just go get breakfast."
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Dean had past a restaurant on his way to pick up the scratch cards and decided to just go there for breakfast. As they drove, Pepper sat in the back going over the handful of cards that Sam had scratched, while Sam himself was calling Bobby.
"Hello," came Bobby's voice over the line.
"Hi, Bobby. Sam here."
"Sam. Everything okay, how's my granddaughter?" Bobby asked.
Whenever they spoke to Bobby his first concern was always Pepper.
"Ah, well" Sam began, looking back at Pepper. "We're not sure yet."
"What?" Bobby demanded and Sam could hear a hint of panic in the older man's voice.
"Oh no I didn't mean...Pepper's fine." Sam said quickly
"Next time start with that." said Bobby. "Now what's wrong?"
"Well we're at Black Rock, outside of Buffalo"
"Yeah I know it. John send you there?"
"Yeah he...Wait, Bobby do you know why we're here?"
"I'd take a guess and say it's got something to do with ya dad's storage locker. Right?"
"Right. So, look dad's unreachable and the place was broken into. They didn't take much just one of the curses boxes. We've got it back thought but we were wondering if you had any information for us?"
"What was in the box?" Bobby asked, just as Dean pulled the Impala into an empty park outside of Big Gerson's sizzlin' grill & bar.
Dean was the first out of the car and he hopped forward slightly to open Pepper's door for her. As she got out Dean gestured for the scratch cards with a wide grin. She rolled her eyes but handed the tickets over just the same.
"There was a rabbit’s foot in the box." Sam replied.
He also got out of the car, and took a few steps away while Dean began arranging the scratch cards on the hood of the Impala. Pepper leaned forward resting her arms on the car.
"Oh, just get the box back to storage and lock the place up again." Bobby instructed.
"Right, it's just that the thing is I sort of..." Sam trailed off to a mumble.
"You didn't touch the foot with your bare hands did you?" Bobby asked.
Sam quickly glanced over at Dean, who was practically bouncing for joy over the amount of money they'd won.
"Oh, man." Dean chuckled.
"You touched it!" Bobby nearly yelled, bringing Sam's attention back to him. "How could you touch it? Didn't you realize that it was in a curse box for a reason?"
"Look, Bobby we didn't know."
"Damn it Sam."
"Well dad never told us about this thing." Sam said defensively. "How were we supposed to know? We didn't even know that you knew about this place."
"Of course I knew about it. Hell I built those curse boxes for him." Bobby replied. "Listen, you have got a serious problem. That rabbit’s foot aint no dime store notion. It's real hoodoo.'
As Sam listened to Bobby, something on the ground caught his eye. He bent down to see what it was and was surprised to find a gold (real looking) watch. He picked it up and turned around to show Dean.
'Awesome!' Dean mouthed.
"...Old world stuff. Made about a hundred years ago." Bobby continued.
"It's a hell of a luck charm" Sam muttered.
"It's not a luck charm it's a curse!" Bobby half yelled once again. "It was made to kill people, Sam." He let out a quick huff of breath before continuing. "See, you touch it, you own it. You own it sure you get a run of good luck to beat the devil, but you loose it that luck turns. It turns so bad that you're dead within a week."
"Well then I won’t loose it."
"Everybody looses it!"
"Then how do we break the curse?" Sam asked.
Bobby paused, "I don't know if you can. Look, let me go through my library and make some calls. In the meantime, sit tight and it you do loose the foot you as hell had better stay away from Pepper. I don't want your stupidity to affect my granddaughter or my future great-grandchild." He warned. "Understand me?"
"Yep." Sam replied quickly with a short nod.
"I'll call you when I have something." Then Bobby hung up.
Sam slowly turned towards Dean and Pepper.
"Dude, we're up 15 grand!" Dean excitedly informed him.
Sam sighed as he walked towards them.
"Ah, Bobby said the foot is cursed.”
Pepper frowned and stood up, "Cursed in what way?" she asked
"Well, if I loose it my luck will turn so bad that I may die."
The grin immediately disappeared from Dean's face. "He looses it, and you're not going anywhere near him." He told Pepper.
Sam chose not to tell Dean that Bobby had the same idea.
"What else did Granddad say?"
"He's looking into how to destroy it. He wants us to sit tight until then. So I guess we should head back to the motel."
"Well I still want breakfast and as long as you keep the foot in your pocket, Sammy, we should be fine. Right?" Pepper asked.
"Um, I guess." Sam nodded slightly.
"Good," Pepper smiled.
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Dean opens the door to the 'Big Gerson's grill & bar' for Pepper before he and Sam quickly followed her inside.
"Don't worry," Dean said, seeing the reluctance on Sam's face. "Bobby, will find a way to break it. Until then I say we his Vegas." He grinned.
"Of course you do." said Pepper.
"Think about it, we could pull a little rain man. Sammy you can be rain man."
"Look we just lay low until Bobby calls. Okay?" asked Sam.
"Fine." Dean sighed.
They walked up to the counter where an old man with a large cheesy grin sat behind a cash register.
"Hi, ah table for three please." Sam asked the man.
"Congratulations!" The man yelled excitedly.
He pushed a button and an alarm sounded.
"Exciting I know." Dean muttered sarcastically.
"-You are the one millionth guests at the 'Big Gerson's' restaurant family!" The man yelled, with an even larger cheesy grin than before.
There was a large pop before balloons and streamers began falling from the ceiling. Pepper jumped suddenly in surprise and unconsciously moved a fraction closer to Dean. The man pulled an over sized check from underneath the counter and handed it to Sam and Dean. Behind him, three other employees join him and they start singing and taking pictures.
Pepper frowned and turned her head to look down at the check. It wasn't for money but for a year’s supply of free food. She looked back up at the boys. Sam looked startled while Dean seemed pretty pleased with himself.
After a minute of photo taking and singing the alarm stopped and all of the Gerson's employees beamed at them.
"Now, why don't I show you to our best booth?" The man behind the counter offered.
One of the other mail employees walked around to the other side of the counter and took a hold of the giant check.
"-Will keep this with us while you all enjoy you're first free meal."
"Thanks." Sam said slowly, handing the check over.
Dean rubbed his hands together, excited over the concept of a year’s supply of free food. Even if they weren't going to be around for a week let alone a year to get the free food.
They were seated at a booth on the other side of the restaurant against a large window. Pepper and Dean slid onto one seat and Sam sat on the opposite side. A waitress handed them a menu each and walked away.
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Half an hour later, they were just finishing their deserts; well Dean was finishing his third desert while Sam and Pepper waited for him. Both Sam and Dean were drinking a cup of coffee each while Pepper sipped on a glass of mango and apricot juice.
Sam had gotten his laptop out of the car and was currently looking over the mythology of lucky rabbit’s feet.
"Well, Bobby's right." Sam announced right before closing the lid of his laptop. "This law goes way back. Pure hoodoo. You can't just cut a foot of any rabbit; it had to be in a cemetery under a full moon on a Friday the 13th."
"I kind of feel sorry for the rabbit's." said Pepper.
Dean was too busy stuffing his face and finishing off his mouthful to answer.
"I say from now on we only go to places with biggersens." He announced.
Dean took another few mouthfuls very quickly they suddenly scrunched his face when he was hit with a brain freeze. As he placed a palm to his forehead Sam laughed.
"Serves you right for hovering down your food." said Pepper.
"Thanks for the sympathy." Dean mumbled
Pepper grinned. She tapped Dean's shoulder lightly. "Shift over; I'm going to the bathroom."
Dean slid out of the booth and stood up until Pepper walked past him. When he sat back down, Sam was shaking his head in amusement.
"What?" Dean demanded.
"Nothing." Sam replied quickly. "Just thinking how great it is to have Pepper around."
"That's because she always likes you so she never gets annoyed at you." Dean explained. "A-n-d she never picks on you either."
"Oh I feel so bad for you." Sam joked.
Dean glared at his brother and drank the rest of his coffee as a young, very attractive short haired waitress approached them. She leaned down a little to close to Sam, with her eyes sparkling. She carried a pot of coffee in one hand.
"Can I freshen you up?" She asked Sam
"Yeah. Yeah sure." Sam nodded and pushed his cup towards her.
She grinned and kept eye contact as she re-filled his cup. Dean watched the exchange between his brother and the waitress and hid his smirk behind his own cup. He jumped back when she spilled coffee over the table and a little on Sam.
"Oh." She gasped in surprised.
"Oh, oh no don't worry." Sam assured her. "I got it."
The waitress slowly smiled at Sam and pulled a cloth out of her apron. She lifted Sam's cup and wiped up the spilled coffee.
"It's not trouble. Really." She told Sam as she finished cleaning up.
With one final flirtatious smile, the waitress stood up, placed the cloth back into her apron and slowly turned. Walking away with her hips swinging from side to side. Both Sam and Dean placed their arms on the table and leaned forward to get a better look at her.
"Dude, if you were ever going to get lucky" Dean said, as his eyes tracked the waitress.
"Sure," Sam shrugged in disbelief. He sat up and noticed that Dean was still watching the waitress. He smirked suddenly. "Hey, Pepper."
Dean sat up wide eyed. "I wasn't looking at anything!" He said quickly.
He spun around and frowned when Pepper wasn't there. Behind him, Sam burst out laughing. Dean turned back around and glared at him. Sam was too busy laughing when he went to grab his coffee causing it to spill all over him.
"Oh, oh jeeze" Sam mumbled, standing up suddenly and walking right into an on coming waiter.
The waiter's tray is tossed up and everything on it falls to the floor with a loud crash.
"Sorry." Sam apologized and quickly turned to Dean with a shocked look on his face.
Dean looks at the mess in puzzle. Slowly he looks up at Sam. "How is that good?" He asks.
Realization dawns on Sam. He puts his hand into his jacket pocket and feels...nothing. He pulls the pocket inside out to show Dean that the rabbit’s foot is gone. Sam watches as the same realization comes to Dean.
"Son of a bitch!" Dean shouts angrily before jumping out of his chair and leading the way to the restaurant front doors.
They pushed passed some new customers as they stepped outside of 'Big Gerson's' restaurant. Dean quickly scanned the aria around them but saw no sign of the waitress. He made a random, quick decision.
"Come on," He called out to Sam before running off to the left.
Dean was running in front, with Sam close behind them but when Sam stepped off the curb he tripped...
"Whoa!" Sam yelled
He didn't really trip on anything. Just his own two feet, but still managed to land pretty hard on his knees. Dean didn't see Sam go down but he heard it and he stopped in his tracks. Slowly, Dean turned around to see Sam lying face down on the pavement.
"Wow," Dean sighed. "You suck."
Dean walked over and grabbed hold of Sam's arms, helping him up.
"So, what now your luck turns bad?" Dean asked
Sam frowned and looked down at his knees which are hurting like hell. He grimaces because they look as bad as they feel. His jeans are torn and the skins of his knees are bloodied.
"I guess."
"I wonder how bad." said Dean. "Wait here. I'm gonna go get Pepper, and you are staying far away from her."
Sam nodded and carefully sat down on the curb. Dean gave him one last look before he ran back inside the restaurant. Pepper was looking a little nervous, and really he couldn't blame her. She had just come out of the bathroom to find both he and Sam gone. He quickly made his way over to her.
"Pep!" He called out.
She spun around and he saw her physically relax.
"Where the hell were you?" She demanded when he came towards her. "I come back and you and Sammy are both gone. Do you know how stressful that is to a pregnant woman?"
"Pep, come on, we gotta go." He replied quickly, grabbing her arm and tugging her towards the door.
"What? Why what's happen?"
"Someone stole the foot."
Once out the doors, Dean led Pepper towards the right side of the restaurant and far away from Sam. He didn't want to take the chance that just being near Sam, would cause harm to her or the baby.
"Well where's Sam?" She asked in a slight panic.
"Waiting around the other side and away from you, like a good future-uncle." Dean replied quickly as they got to the Impala.
"Dean, you can't just leave him here." Pepper protested just as Dean opened the passenger door for her. "What if something happens?"
"I'm gonna come back." Dean replied. "But I just want to make sure you're safe first. Okay?"
Pepper nodded and got into the car. Once she was in, Dean ran around and got into the drivers seat. He started the car and pulled his cell out at the same time. Hitting speed-dial one, he placed his phone to his ear.
"Sam? Just stay where you are..." Dean talked quickly. "...No don't touch anything, don't talk to anyone until I get back...Well I don't know...pretend you're blind or some crap like that man...We're going back to the motel then you and I are going to get that foot back."
With that, Dean hung up and tossed his phone onto the seat between himself and Pepper. As they drove Pepper turned to look at him, a slight frown on her face.
"Is Sammy, really going to be okay by himself?" She asked
Dean gave a half shrug in response before adding, "Well it’s a bit late now to go back. We're almost at the motel."
"You do know that this is your fault for acting so cocky about the whole thing." Pepper pointed out.
Dean didn't reply as he parked the car outside of their motel room and got out. He helped Pepper inside as quickly as he could. He needed to protect her and he needed to go back and protect Sam, but since Pepper was carrying his child he had to make sure she was safe first. Sam could wait. Once they were inside, Dean did a quick check of the room to make sure that there was nothing there that could be hazarded.
"Dean, I'm not the one with the bad luck." said Pepper, trying to get Dean to stop.
"I know..."
He continued to look and once he was satisfied he moved to stand in front of her. Staring straight into her crystal blue eyes.
"Stay here, okay?" He asked, even though he knew that she wouldn’t go anywhere. "Sam and I will get the foot back. Hopefully after that Sam will have good luck again."
"If not?" Pepper asked.
Dean sighed. "Then I don't know, but we'll work it out. Maybe Bobby will have figured something out." He offered her a small smile. "I'll see you when we get back."
Pepper nodded, wrapped one hand around the back of his neck and pulled him towards her for a quick kiss. When she pulled back she felt Dean sigh against her lips.
"Keep an eye on, Sammy. I want you both to come back safe." She whispered.
He nodded, kissed her forehead before leaving.
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When Dean picked Sam up from the outside of the restaurant, half of Sam's shirt was covered in strawberry thick shake from when an elderly woman ran into him. Dean would have made him change shirts but all of their bags where back at the motel. This only left Dean with the option of having the Impala smell like strawberries for the rest of the night, and as soon as Sam's luck was back to normal he'd have to fix it.
Dean drove them back to the apartment building of the two thieves who had stolen the foot from John's storage locker. He knew that if anyone would know who the woman was who stole the foot it'd have to be them.
On their way up the stairs (Dean wasn't going to risk getting stuck in the elevator because of Sam's bad luck) they heard two of the building's tenants’ mention the tragic death of a young man, and Dean and Sam could both figure out that it was one of the thieves.
When they got to the apartment Dean did all of the talking while Sam tripped up on his own two feet and flew head first into the carpet. Dean managed to manipulate the man into giving them the name of who hired them. Once they got a name, Dean and Sam left and headed outside towards the parked Impala.
"So, um what do we do now?" Sam asked
"We try to find this chick," Dean replied as he pulled out his cell. "Steal the foot back from her."
Sam glanced down at the phone in Dean's hand.
"You gonna call Pepper?" He asked.
Dean paused and turned back to look at Sam. He rolled his eyes on a half sigh and began to dial. Before he got the third number in however, his phone began to ring.
"Hello" Dean answered.
"Dean," came Bobby's upbeat voice. "Great news."
Dean's lips curled in a slight smile and continued walking towards the Impala. He didn't notice Sam step into a huge chunk of pink gum on the ground. Sam looked down at his shoe and frowned.
"Wasn't easy, but I found a heavy weight cleansing ritual that should do the trick." Bobby explained to Dean.
"Bobby, that's great, 'cept Sam, ah..." Dean trailed off, looked behind him and down at Sam's gum covered shoe. His He scrounged his face up in disgust at the used chewed candy. "...Sam lost the foot-"
"He what!" Bobby demanded. "Where's Pepper? If he goes near her--
Bobby's voice rising so high that Dean had to pull the phone away from his ear for a fraction of a second. He quickly placed the phone back against his ear so he could reassure the older man about Pepper.
"-Pepper's fine. She's back at the motel, and Sam and I are on the other half of town. Right, Bobby listen, this...hot chick stole the foot from Sam."
"A chick?" Bobby asked, checking to see if he had heard Dean right.
"Seriously." Dean replied quickly. "She'd be in her mid twenties, and she was sharp. You know, good enough with a con to play us. And she only gave the guys she hired a name, probably an alias or something..." Dean trailed off and tried to remember the name himself. When he couldn't he turned to Sam.
While on the phone, Dean hadn't noticed that Sam had walked further away to a metal grate on the ground. Dean quickly looked down and saw Sam roughly scraping his shoe desperately trying to get rid of the gum.
"Luigy or something?" Dean told Bobby while at the same time asking Sam the question.
"Lugosi." Sam corrected.
Dean nodded, turned back around and repeated the name for Bobby encase he hadn't heard Sam.
"Lugosi? Lugosi..." Bobby mumbled and Dean knew he was trying to figure out if he knew the name from somewhere. "...Oh crap, it's probably Bella."
"Bella Lugosi?" Dean asked on a small, disbelieving smirk. "That's cute."
Behind Dean, Sam swore under his breath but Dean didn't turn around to see what the problem was. His curiosity for knowing just who this Bella is over weighing the need to know what his little brother had done now.
"Bella Talbot's her real name." said Bobby. "Crossed paths with her once or twice."
"She knew about the rabbit’s foot. Is she a hunter?" Dean asked
"Pretty far from a hunter." Bobby scoffed. "But she knows her way around the territory. She's been out of the country, last I heard she was in the Middle East some place."
"Yeah, well I guess she's back."
"Which means seriously bad luck for you."
"Great," Dean sighed sarcastically and closed his eyes.
"But, if it is Bella," Bobby began. "At least I might know some folks who know where to find her."
"Thanks, Bobby." Dean opened his eyes and smile slightly. "Again."
"Dean, I'm guessing Pepper didn't see Bella when she managed to steal the foot from Sam." Bobby stated.
Dean frowned because that wasn't a question.
"No, she didn't she was in the bathroom. Um, Bobby how did you know that?" Dean asked slowly.
"Doesn't matter."
"No, come on Bobby?"
"Okay," Bobby sighed. "I know because if Pepper had seen Bella, she would have been able to tell you who she was."
"Oh, so they've met? Like when Pep was with you?"
Bobby let out a sarcastic 'HA!'
"Trust me I had nothing to do with the two of them meeting." said Bobby quickly. "They've spent some time together. They have a history."
"A history?" Dean repeated. "What the hell does that mean?"
"Look, Dean it's not really my place to say. You'll have to ask Pepper."
"No, Bobby man you can't just leave it there" Dean pleaded desperately. "What kind of history do they have?"
"Dean, ask Pepper. Okay." Bobby said firmly. "She may or may not give you an answer. If she doesn't then just leave it at that."
"Um, okay...." Dean nodded slowly.
"And look out for ya brother." Bobby added. "Ya idgit"
Dean lowered the phone and pressed the end call button. He was intrigued. There was nothing that he could think of that would place Pepper and this Bella in close range of each other, other than if Pepper was with Bobby but he had denied that theory.
Dean turned back around to Sam, with a deep expression of confusion on his face which disappeared when he saw the sad frown on Sam's face.
"What?" Dean asked.
"I lost my shoe." Sam admitted.
Dean glanced down to where Sam was wriggling his sock covered foot. Dean rolled his eyes, turned around and let out an exasperated sigh before walking over to the Impala.
"You are hopeless." Dean told Sam as they both get into the car.
Sam ignored him and instead asked, "So what did Bobby say?"
"Ah, the chick's name is Bella Talbot."
"Is she a hunter?"
Dean shook his head. "Bobby says she's not. He's looking into how to find her for us. He's also got a way for us to destroy the foot, which should get your luck back to normal."
"So where are we going now?"
"Back to the motel."
"I thought you didn't want me near Pepper?" Sam asked in confusion.
"I don't, but you need shoes, a new shirt and I won’t leave you alone unless I have too." said Dean. "Besides you're staying outside of the room while I go inside."
"Oh,"
"Beside's I have to ask Pepper something." Dean added, but his voice had softened almost as if he were talking to himself.
"What?" Sam asked
"Huh? Oh, um nothing just something Bobby said about Bella."
"Yeah what?"
"Apparently Pepper knows her and they have a history."
Sam frowned and shifted slightly in his seat to get a better look at Dean.
"But I thought Pepper didn't know anyone in the hunting business besides Ellen." said Sam. "And I mean, I know this Bella isn’t a hunter but she's still, you know, involved with it."
"That's why I want to ask her." Dean replied.
continued in part 2