Second Nature 4/?

[emebalia]

Chapter 4

"How?" Dean turned to his brother for an explanation after the initial shock was over. And he still had trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that this woman was his car. "How can a car turn into a person?"


"I don't know." Sam answered but he had this expression on his face that told Dean his brother had sunk his teeth into the problem. He just had to make sure Sam ate and slept enough until he'd figured this one out. If it even took that long, sometimes his brother actually did live up to his reputation of being the smart one.
Dean looked over to the woman, Baby, who was still naked, except for the blanket which was hanging loosely around her and he doubted she'd gasped the concept of it, still coated in mud and by now visibly shivering.

"Okay, first things first." Dean nodded to himself and crouched in front of her. When she did nothing to cover herself up, he drew the blanket closer around her.

"I get you have trouble talking but you understand me just fine, don't you?" He ducked his head to look her in the eye which she rolled at him. She even managed to translate her annoyance into the hissing sound that came close to a "yes".

"How does a hot shower sound?" He asked, mentally already rooting through his clothes to find something she could wear afterwards. Not that they had anything close to fitting her, though.

"Shower is for washing?" She asked with a frown. She was far from talking clearly but Dean was getting the hang of it and had no problems filling in the sounds she couldn't quite manage. Yet. At this rate she would be talking like nobody's business in a couple of hours.

"Yeah, you know. Shower." Dean wasn't sure what the problem was. Then it dawned to him that she'd never been inside. She may have heard them talking about things like showers and such but she'd never seen or needed one before. Usually a bucket of water and a hose had worked just fine. But now?

A low chuckle behind him drew Dean out of those unpleasant thoughts.

"She's your car." Sam spoke up and Dean didn't have to turn around and look at his brother to know the defensive posture he was currently showing. "You explain that one to her."

In this case explaining came close to showing, Dean let out a groan.

"C'mon, bathroom it is."

Maybe his Bambi reference hadn't been that far off because like a fawn Baby learned to control her legs pretty quickly. The way to the bathroom wasn't as bad as Dean had feared and by the time he parked her on the closed toilet lid Dean was confident that she was steady enough on her feet to manage a shower on her own.

Dean got the water running and showed her the soap and a washcloth. The concept wasn't that different from washing her the old-fashioned way and Dean felt safe to leave her alone with this.

"You've hands now, you can wash yourself." He reminded her. "I'll be just outside, holler when you need something."

She frowned at the washcloth in her hand and then at the shower stall and for a second Dean feared he'd have to shower her after all but then she nodded and Dean left her alone.

In the main room Sam had been busy as well and had lit the fireplace.

"Will she be okay?" Sam asked with a doubtful look at the bathroom door and Dean had to admit that he was straining his ears, too. But he only heard the shower running.

"She's smart, she'll figure it out." Dean nodded to himself and hoped he was right.

"So I'm not a werewolf." Sam flopped down in the same chair he'd been using a lifetime ago when they'd tried to chase away the fear with whiskey and poker.

"No, you're not." Dean mirrored his position in the other chair. There was his forgotten drink from his impromptu celebration earlier still on the table and Dean finished it in one quick movement. He eyed the whiskey bottle he'd left on the table as well, pondering if he should go for a another one. For sure he felt like he could use a drink but then he just put the glass back on the table.

Sam didn't say anything for a moment, his gaze lost in the flames slowly warming the cabin.

"This can't be coincidence." Sam finally spoke. His naked toes dug into the fluffy rug, giving away his restlessness, while the rest of his body stayed uncommonly calm.

"Remember that werewolf hunt a month ago?" Sam turned his head so he could look Dean in the eye.

"Barely." Dean snorted. That damn hunt was the reason they were here. An hour ago Dean had thought he'd have to shoot his own brother because of that hunt. And he'd been fully prepared to shoot his own brains out afterwards. So yeah, he remembered that werewolf hunt.

"Remember how I hit Dave in the face with the lid of the trunk?"

Now Dean snickered. "I was the one who had to work the dents out he left with his … holy shit."

"Yep."

"But she's a car." Dean pointed out. "How can a werewolf turn a frigging car?"

"No idea." Sam shook his head. "Never heard of something like this."

"Why didn't she turn werewolf?" Was the first question in Dean's mind. Among a million others. How long would she stay like this? Was she craving human hearts? Would she kill somebody? Dean threw a glance at the still closed bathroom door. This wasn't a conversation he wanted her to overhear. "What does this mean for her?"

"I don't know." Sam reached for the glass and poured himself a generous drink. Dean arched an eyebrow at him, this was more than Sam drank on a whole evening at a bar, but Sam only took one big gulp, grimaced at the burn and handed the rest of the drink over to Dean.

"We should call Bobby in the morning." Sam suggested. "Maybe he knows something."

"Yeah, maybe." Somehow he doubted it. Dean finished the glass, his eyes now on the dancing flames in the fireplace while he listened to the running water in the bathroom. So far there hadn't been a call from Baby and he hadn't heard any signs of distress like slipping or water splashing. But he would feel better as soon as she was back where he could keep an eye on her.

"I should get her something to wear." Dean announced when his brother didn't come up with an explanation. In this phase it was best to let Sam just be. He'd think over everything, pick it apart and poke at it until he'd found his answer. Experience had taught Dean that this was the best time to hit a bar or something and to come back when Sam had solved the problem. Dean's mind worked best when his hands were busy but Sam was a broody thinker. Best thing Dean could do now was to retreat to the bedroom where he'd dumped his duffel bag.

Dean found sweatpants which were too big for Baby but if she tied the drawstring tight enough they should hold and a t-shirt she could were as a tent, however, that was all they had. If this was a long-term deal they'd need to get her some real clothes. Underwear and shoes would be the first things because Dean had nothing in that department that came even close to fitting her. And he doubted she wanted to wear his underwear.

When he returned to the bathroom the shower was still running.

"You alright in there?" Dean asked through the closed door.

She answered something but over the sound of the water and with her still impaired speech Dean didn't understand what she was saying.

"I got you something to wear." He opened the door and poked his head in.

Baby sat on the toilet lid, now wrapped in a towel instead of the blanket, and gave a good impression of a drowned kitten. She hadn't dried herself off and the towel didn't help much the way she wore it loosely over her shoulders.

"Some day I have to explain the term decency to you."

"You?" Her voice still cracked but she got the sarcastic tone right.

"Ha, ha. You think you're funny?" He shook his head and shut off the water before he turned to her to get her dry and dressed. When he knelt down in front of her and once again closed the fabric to cover her up, another thought occurred to him. How aware had she been all those years? Did she know about the things he'd done in the car? Which on itself sounded just wrong.

"Let's start with your hair." Dean announced, grabbing another towel. "Pay attention, this is a one time only deal."

He did the hair and she did the rest but she needed help to find her way into the pants and the t-shirt. It was oddly familiar, Dean had to admit. It reminded him of a toddler Sam who'd tried more than once to fit his thick head through the whole for the arm. Which hadn't changed that much since then, Sam still tried to have his way, no matter what.

Baby's coordination got better by the minute but by the time she was finally dressed, she looked exhausted and he urged her to sit down for another minute. Elbows on her knees and head hanging she didn't object.

"What happened to me?" She broke the silence without lifting her head.

Once again Dean crouched in front of her.

"How aware have you been as a car?" Dean asked one of the weirder questions of his life. A question he really didn't want to have an answer to. Over the last few minutes he'd tried to recollect girls, positions and other incident which had happened in and around the car. And on it. Against it. Or this one time when he'd been working under the car and his girlfriend of the week … Dean cleared his throat.

"Everything is kinda fuzzy. Endless roads merge into one." Now she looked up to meet his eyes with a smile on her lips. "But I've always been aware of you."

Dean didn't know if he should feel flattered or embarrassed so he just nodded.

"You probably don't remember but a month ago we were after a werewolf."

To his surprise she nodded. "I felt his teeth. Right here." She placed her hand on the curve of her buttocks.

"He bit you in the ass." Dean chuckled.

"It hurt." She actually pouted. "Nothing before ever hurt."

For that alone Dean wanted to shoot that werewolf again. He hadn't just hurt Baby, he'd hurt her.

"It's okay." Seeing his distress she reached out and cupped his face. "I'm okay. It saved Sammy so it's okay."

"It's my job to protect you. You and Sammy." Dean sighed. "I failed you, I'm sorry."

She didn't say anything but gently stroked his cheek and for some reason Dean thought of his mother. For a second he closed his eyes and just let her comfort him.

"By now Sam is probably pacing a hole in the floor." Dean broke the moment and stood up. "Let's find out if that brain of his has figured out how a werewolf can turn a car, shall we?"

He was ready to help her if she still needed it but she didn't even tried to get up.

"Dean?" All of a sudden she sounded shy.

"Yeah?"

"Do you have to shoot me?"

Chapter 5
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