CHAPTER THREE

"Oh, jackpot!" Dean gets their attention, and they turn to where he's sitting at his computer.

"What you got?" Sam asks.

"I just found the best site ever. Real, actual ghost hunters." He says, and they walk over to him.

"You're telling me the Ghostbusters have a website?" Nycole asks sarcastically. "Who you gonna call?" She chuckles as she looks down at the screen over his shoulder.

"These guys are genius. Check it out."

"Instructional videos?" Sam asks.

Ghostfacers pops up on the screen and then there's two men. "We know why you're watching." The curly-haired one says.

"You've got a problem." His partner says.

"A ghost problem."

"A ghost-related problem." He stammers a bit, and the curly-haired guy looks at him.

"Whatever." He cuts him off. "You've come to the right place. The only decent place, really, because the Ghostfacers know how to solve it."

"Period."

"Watch and learn."

"See, the first step in any supernatural fight..."

"Figure out what you're up against." They say at the same time.

"They're a little eccentric, but alright. Let's find out who the ghost is." Nycole shrugs.

They do some more research and find that their ghost is P. T. Sanders. Basically all he had in his life was the company — the one that Nycole, Dean, and Sam all work for. He died in 1916 and he's been watching over the company ever since. Whenever stocks aren't doing well, he shows up and tries to do something about it. And room 1444 used to be Sandover's office.

They then get back to the video with the two guys that Nycole thinks are dorks. And they prove it further with what they're wearing and the way that they act.

They then explain how to kill ghosts. The first thing that they mention is salt. Then they say that iron hurts ghosts — makes them dissipate instantly.

"That's why the wrench worked." Sam says, and Nycole and Dean both look at him for a second before turning their attention back to the screen.

"Next little trick." Curly says as on the computer. "We learned this from those useless douchebags..."

"That we hate." The other one adds.

"...the Winchesters."

"Gun." He holds one up after a cut in the video.

"Shotgun shell." Curly says as he shows the empty shells. "Pack it up with fresh rock salt."

"Very effective."

"V-Very effective."

"Winchesters still suck ass though."

"Affirmative." Curly agrees. "Suckage — major."

"I kinda liked the shorter one's angry girlfriend though." His friend says, and Curly shakes his head at him.

"She was evil."

"She saved our lives from a ghost with an ax."

"Evil."

"You're just mad that she knew more about EMF than we did when we first met her."

"She kept threatening to hit us."

"But she never did."

"Shut up about your crush already." Curly says, and Dean chuckles.

"This girl sounds awesome." Dean says, and the other two glance at him.

They then get together everything that they can, but they can't get a gun. So, they refer back to the video, where the dorks talk more crap about these Winchesters. But then they say that you have to burn the remains.

Sam does more research on Sandover and finds that he was cremated, but luckily there's a part in the Ghostfacers video on that too. They say that all they have to do is find some of Sandover's remains and burn that — hair, teeth, nails, anything.

—

"Set your cellphone to walkie-talkie in case we get separated." Dean says as the three of them get into the elevator in their work building.

"How the hell are we gonna find some ancient spec of DNA in a skyscraper?" Sam questions as they all pull their phones out.

"Well, that creepy storage room used to be Sandover's office, right?" Nycole says as she looks between the two of them, and Dean hits the button for the fourteenth floor.

They go to room 1444 and start looking around. Sam's looking through a desk, and the others are looking in other areas. Nycole ends up behind some shelves, and Dean walks over to her. She smirks as she glances up at him and keeps looking.

"What the hell are you doing here?" A voice gets their attention, and they both duck down. They see a security guard talking to Sam.

"Uh... Nothing." He says as Dean quietly pulls Nycole to the far corner of the room to hide. "I just—"

"Come with me." He says and starts to escort Sam from the room.

Dean's still hunched over as he turns to look at Nycole. They're standing a lot closer than they realized, and now their faces are only inches apart. His gaze falls to her lips, and she smiles as she takes a step back.

"We should probably keep looking." She says, her voice low. "You know, kill the ghost before it kills anyone else."

He nods as he clears his throat. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea." He agrees, and they go their separate ways to try and find what they're looking for.

Dean finds something not long after, and they get ahold of Sam. "Come on, let's get to twenty-two." He says, and Nycole follows after him.

"Whoa." She mutters when she sees Sam walking toward them. "That's a lot of blood." She says, and he nods.

"Yeah, I know."

"Right, uh..." She points at Dean. "He found something."

"In there." He says, and they look at the glass case he's pointing to.

"P. T. Sandover's gloves." Sam says.

"Yeah. How much do you wanna bet there's a little smidge of DNA in there? You know, like a fingernail clipping or a hair or two — something."

"So, you ready?" He asks them.

"I have no idea." Dean says honestly, and Nycole shakes her head.

"Me neither." He says, and they each pull out an iron bar from the bag they brought. "So, go for it."

"Right." He glances between the two of them and then uses the bar to smash the glass.

Nycole takes a deep breath and when she exhales, she can see her breath. Sandover suddenly shows up and he throws Dean into a wall. Nycole swings the iron bar in her hand, and the ghost disappears.

"Nice." Dean says as he gets to his feet.

The ghost keeps coming back, and they have to fight him off. He throws each of them back, and Nycole groans when she lands on the floor. She feels the baby moving and lightly rubs her hand over the bump.

"I know, Mama, I'm sorry." Nycole whispers as she gets to her feet. "Sam, get the gloves." She tells him as she picks up an iron bar. She quickly makes her way down the hall to where Dean's unconscious, and the ghost is about to do something to him with that weird electricity thing that it's got.

She swings the bar and it goes through the ghost's torso, forcing it to disappear. Dean's eyes widen when he comes to and looks up at her. "Behind you." He says, and she quickly turns around.

The ghost is moving toward her, and she raises the iron bar again, getting ready to swing it at the ghost. It suddenly starts to burn away, and then it disappears altogether.

"That was amazing." Sam says as he looks at them. He just burned the gloves.

"Right?" Dean agrees, and Nycole laughs as she turns to look at him again. "Right?"

"Come on." She shakes her head, still smiling. "You're bleeding."

"I've got a first aid kit in my office." He says as he gets to his feet.

The three of them walk over, and he pulls the first aid kit out as Nycole looks at a small cut that she has on her hand. She sighs as she looks at the small amount of blood there.

"Man, I gotta tell you, I've never had so much fun in my life." Dean says as he walks back over to them. He sits on the desk beside Sam, in front of Nycole, who's in a chair.

"Me neither." Sam agrees.

"It was a hell of a workout too, wasn't it?"

"We should keep doing this." He says, and Nycole looks up at him.

"I know." He chuckles.

"I mean it." He tells them. "There's gotta be other ghosts out there. We could help a lot of people."

"Yeah, right. We'd be like the Ghostfacers."

"No, really. I mean... For real." Sam says, and they both look at him.

"What?" Dean laughs. "Quit our jobs and hit the road?"

"Exactly."

"Sam, Dean has two kids. And I'm pregnant." Nycole says. "We can't do that."

"Yeah." Dean agrees. "How would we take care of our kids?"

"Uh..." Sam looks between the two of them.

"Come on. You got to be kidding me." He says. "How would we get by — with stolen credit cards? Huh? Eating diner food drenched in saturated fats. Sharing a crap motel room every night?"

"That's all just details."

"Details are everything! You don't want to go fighting ghosts without any health insurance. And what about the kids?" He questions. "That's no way to raise kids, man. Come on." He shakes his head.

"You want another detail? My ex-fiancé. He isn't gonna be okay with me taking our daughter and running around with two guys that I barely know." Nycole says. "And that's sure as hell not fair to her."

Sam sighs as he looks down. "Alright. Uh, confession." He says, and they both look at him.

"What?" Dean asks.

"Remember those dreams I told you about, with the ghosts?"

"Yeah." They both nod.

"I was fighting them."

"Okay."

"With both of you." He tells them, and they glance at each other. "We were...these, like...hunters. And we were friends." He sighs. "More like family, actually. And there were others with us sometimes. This gorgeous blonde girl that... I think I'm dating. And there was a younger guy, a teenager. And then the other girl who looks like...you, actually." He looks at Nycole.

"Wha— Elena?" She questions. "You're telling me that you're having dreams about us and my sister? A teenage b— And my brother?"

"I mean, what if that's who we really are?" He asks. "I mean, you saw us back there, working together. Th— The ghost was scrambling people's brains. What if it scrambled ours?"

"That's insane." Dean says as he stands up and walks around his desk.

"Is it? Think about it for just one second." He says. "What if we think this is our life...but it's not?"

"No." She shakes her head. "My life is going back to my apartment and creating a life for my daughter."

"Hey, man, the ghost is dead, and we're still standing." Dean says. "I mean, I'm sorry, but—"

"Look, all I'm saying is, this isn't who we're supposed to be." Sam says as he stands up and looks between the two of them.

"No. I'm Dean Smith, okay? Director of Sales and Marketing. I went to Stanford. My father's name is Bob, my mother's name is Ellen, and my sisters are Jo and Vicki."

"And when's the last time you talked to them?" He asks. "Any of them?"

"Vicki lives with me. She moved in to help me with my kids after my wife died." He tells him.

"What about you?" Sam looks at Nycole.

"I talked to Elena this morning." She says as she stands up. "She wanted to check on me because my ex moved out yesterday. I don't know who you think I am, but it's not this. I have to do what's best for my baby, and it's not driving around, hunting ghosts." She tells him and then walks out of Dean's office and leaves the building.

Dean goes out to his car half an hour later and he sees Nycole leaning against the passenger side door. "I thought you left." He says, and she looks at him.

"Yeah, well, the buses don't run this late, and I didn't feel like walking two miles to my apartment." She tells him. "You think I can get a ride home?" She asks, and he nods.

"Yeah, of course."

"Home." She mutters. "My empty apartment. Great."

"You are alright?" Dean asks, and she nods as she looks at him. She hadn't really meant for him to hear her, she was talking more to herself than to him. "You miss him?"

"I mean, yeah. I've been with him for a long time. But really I just don't want to be alone right now." She answers honestly. "I mean, we just killed a ghost. What kind of dreams do you think that's gonna create?"

"Why don't I take you back to my house for a bit? I'm not gonna be able to sleep for a while anyway, we can talk. Besides, we should probably clean this up too." He takes her hand in his and looks at the cut on her palm from when she was thrown into the wall and then fell to the floor with the glass.

"You don't mind?" She asks, and he shakes his head.

"My kids are out and my sister won't be up until they wake her in the morning after I make their breakfast." He says, and she smiles. "It's no trouble. Come on." He opens the door for her, and she climbs into his car.

He drives them back to his house, and they go up to the bathroom in the master bedroom. He gets the rubbing alcohol from the medicine cabinet, and she grips the counter behind her when it burns her hand.

"Sorry." He says as he gets some gauze, and she looks up at him.

"Really?" She questions. "The cut is not that big."

"All I have is small band-aids with princesses or Ninja Turtles." He tells her, and she laughs as he shows her the little boxes. "We need something a little bigger." He says, and she nods.

"Yeah, you might be right." She agrees, and he wraps the gauze around her hand. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Why do you call me Nyx?" She asks, and he glances at her face, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"No one calls me that. No one has ever called me that." She tells him. "Until I met you. So, why do you call me Nyx?"

"I don't know. I guess it just seemed... It seemed kinda natural." He says as he finishes with the gauze and starts putting everything away. "Does it bother you?" He asks, and she shakes her head as she leans against the counter.

"I was just curious. I actually kinda like it."

"That's good to hear." He smirks. "'Cause I don't plan on calling you anything else."

She chuckles and then looks at the spot where he had been bleeding from earlier. "How's your head?"

"It's fine. Doesn't even hurt anymore." He tells her. "Do you want to borrow something to wear? Change out of that skirt. Can't imagine it's too comfortable."

"It's not." She says as she looks down at what she's wearing. "I'll agree with Sam on not liking my clothes. I prefer jeans and a leather jacket." She tells him.

"Well, I can get you some sweats and a t-shirt." He says, and she nods. He goes into the bedroom and comes back with clothes that definitely look a lot more comfortable than what she's currently wearing. "You can change in here. I'm gonna go get some water from the kitchen."

"Okay. Thanks."

When he gets back upstairs, Nycole's sitting on the counter next to the sink in the clothes that he gave her, and her blouse and skirt are neatly folded beside her. He walks back into the bathroom and looks at her.

"You plan on staying in here?" He asks, and she smirks as she looks at him.

"I was just thinking about what Sam said — about his dreams." She says, and he sets down the two bottles that he brought up. "How did he know that I had a twin? Or about my brother?"

"I have no idea."

"Do you think it's possible? That this isn't who we really are?" She asks.

"It doesn't make any sense." He says. "But then neither do ghosts being real."

"And what about what he said about...being hunters?" She looks at him as he moves closer to her. "Not whether we were, but whether we should be?"

"I don't know."

"Is there anything you do know?" She asks teasingly as she looks up at him. He's now standing in front of her.

"I know that I want to kiss you." He says, taking her surprise. "And unless you stop me..."

He leans down, and she closes her eyes as he presses his lips against hers. She rests her hand on the side of his face and after a few seconds, he pulls away and rests his forehead against hers. A smile spreads across both of their faces.

"I've been wanting to do that for the last three weeks." He says, his voice low, and she chuckles.

Nycole kisses him again, and this time he deepens the kiss further as his hands move up her thighs to rest on her hips. Her fingers tangle in his hair, and he pulls her closer to him. Her hands move down to his chest and she starts undoing the buttons on his shirt.

He pulls the bottom of his shirt so that it's no longer tucked into his pants and he lets it fall to the floor behind him. His lips move to her neck as she gets his belt off, and then he pulls the shirt that he let her borrow over her head before reconnecting their lips.

Her fingers tangle in his hair again as his hands settle on her hips. She wraps her legs around his waist, and he lifts up her off of the counter so that he can carry her into the bedroom. He lets her feet drop to the floor, and she smirks as she then pushes him back onto the bed behind him.

The brunette crawls over him and leans down to press her lips firmly against his again. She kisses down his jaw to his neck, and he moans when she sucks lightly on the sensitive skin.

Dean then grabs her hips and rolls them over so that she's under him. She moves herself up the bed so that she's next to the pillows, and he pulls the sweats down her legs before discarding them to the floor. His green eyes are on her brown ones as he leans down and presses his lips against her now bare hip. A smile tugs at her lips as he trails kisses up her body until he's hovering directly over her once again. His hand rests on the side of her face as he leans down so that his lips can meet hers, and her hands travel up his bare, muscular back.