chapter eleven

one step forward

♰

    CORDELIA LET OUT a huff as she carefully pulled the towel from around Sam's neck. The Moore woman had now been appointed to the Winchester's very own hairdresser.

She couldn't complain seeing as she had been the one to argue that Sam's hair had started to grow unkept, so, being the good friend that she was, she said she'd cut it for him.

Now Dean wanted his doing.

Why did she even bother speaking?

Sam gave her a smile in thanks and came to a stand before heading over to the nearest mirror, he glanced down at it briefly before his attention flitted back over to his best friend.

"Thanks."

"Mhm," Cordelia grumbled under her breath, fighting off sleep. "Right. Your turn."

Dean grinned widely as he stood up and swiftly moved over to her before taking a seat down on the chair in front of her. Cordelia craned her neck aside, stretching the muscle before she grabbed the spray bottle and began.

"How do you even know how to do this?" Dean asked, suddenly becoming nervous as she brought the scissors to his hair and began cutting ⸻ luckily for Dean, it was only a small trim, it'd take five minutes or less.

"When I was in Stanford, I worked at a hairdressing salon," she shrugged lightly, brushing her fingers through his hair.

"Yeah, for, like, a month," Sam snorted from his place on the bed as he flickered through John's journal. "She then worked at a bar, Hooters and Walmart. She can't keep a job."

"Hooters, huh?" Dean angled his head towards her, a smirk pulling at his lips. "Got any pictu-"

The Moore girl picked up the spray bottle and squirted it in his face before he could continue.

Dean's features screwed up and he lifted a hand to wipe his face dry, "I'm gonna take that as a no, then."

"Silence. The next five minutes are gonna be silent, if you open your mouth, or breathe too loud, I will tape your mouth shut," Cordelia quipped, shooting him a stern look.

"Kinky," he muttered under his breath, not being able to stop himself ⸻ it was like he couldn't stay silent.

She gave him yet another look and he shot his hands up in surrender, turning back to face forward so that she could carry on.

It was less than five minutes later when she had finally done and all she wanted to do was sleep, but they had too much to do ⸻ and by too much to do, they had to find John Winchester.

Everyone had been appointed different tasks, Dean now held his father's journal, shuffling through it, trying to see if he could figure out where he was, Sam had his phone pressed to his ear, asking John's friends if they had seen or heard from him, and Cordelia had a map tapped to the wall, trying to pinpoint where John had been ⸻ trying to see if she could figure out where he was headed, she felt like an Agent in Criminal Minds.

Sam ran his fingers through his, now-dry hair. "No, Dad was in California last we heard from him. We just thought if he comes to you for munitions, maybe you've seen him in the last few weeks... Just call us if you hear anything. Thanks."

"Caleb hasn't heard from him?" Dean asked, sparing a glance over at Sam before his attention flitted back over to the journal.

"Nope. Neither has Jefferson or Pastor Jim," Sam sighed in defeat. "What about the journal? Any leads in there?"

Dean lightly shook his head. "No. Same last time I looked. Nothing I can make out," he said, continuing to flick through the pages of John's journal when a huff of amusement left his lips. "I love the guy but I swear he writes like freakin' Yoda."

"You know, maybe we should call the Feds, file a missing persons," Sam suggested, looking between the two, Dean gave him a flat stare and Cordelia pulled a face.

"Dad would be pissed if we put the Feds on his tail."

"I don't care anymore, I mean, after what happened in Kansas... he should've been there, Dean. You said so yourself," Sam snapped, and Cordelia took this as her opportunity to step back and continue to work.

She had learnt not to involve herself in a Winchester's fight, even a petty little argument like this one. So, she forced her attention back to the wall.

She turned her head slightly, and her phone, which lay on the bed, caught her eye. She grabbed it and started down at it for a moment ⸻ contemplating whether or not she should call her Dad.

She hesitated. On one hand, he might have better insight ⸻ Edward Moore used to work for the police department, back before he was a hunter, and he had some friends in the department who didn't bat an eyelid when he asked for something.

But on the other hand, Cordelia didn't like the person she was when she was with him. She was short-tempered and rude ⸻ she couldn't help it when she was around him, it was as though something in her brain snapped every time she was near him. Plus, if he knew she was hunting ( which, by now, she was sure he did ), he'd drag her with him.

She didn't want that.

With a sigh, Cordelia tossed her phone on the bed and ran her fingers through her hair. She turned and muttered, "I'm gonna go get some air," to the boys before she left the room.

Shutting the motel room door behind her, Cordelia breathed in the dingy air. Any time her father was brought up or even thought of, Cordelia always felt like she wanted to throw up. Edward Moore had done a number on his daughter ⸻ and she could never forgive him for that.

But Lee? Lee Moore was like an Angel from above. Though not being her actual father, he was Cordelia's Dad. He treated her the same as he did Jess, he gave her and Jess the same in life, he never forced hunting on her, and if she decided she wanted to go on a hunt, he let her, after all, it was her decision.

That was the difference between Lee and Ed, Edward didn't allow Cordelia choices. She couldn't make her own decision. What he said goes, and when they hunted? It put an enormous weight on her shoulders, one she could not burden herself with anymore.

So, calling her father was the last option, if even that.

Instead, she rang Lee.

It was only a few minutes later when Dean stormed out of the motel room, duffle bag in hand, taking Cordelia by surprise. She frowned and called out to him, "What's going on?"

"My Dad sent us some coordinates," he said as he threw his duffle into the trunk before slamming it shut and making his way over to the driver's seat. "We're going."

His tone implied no room for argument and Cordelia rolled her eyes, what crawled up his ass? Sam soon waltzed out of the room, a scowl on his face as he balanced his and Cordelia's bags in hand.

He met her eyes and rolled them before shooting Dean a glare.

They're so childish, Cordelia thought to herself before she bid her Uncle goodbye and sluggishly followed Sam to the car.

♰

    Cordelia, Sam and Dean had made it to Rockford, Illinois. Sam had begrudgingly filled Cordelia in on the hunt during the drive over, which luckily, wasn't that far.

He had told her about a cop, Walter Kelly, who had shot his wife and then himself after responding to a call at Roosevelt Asylum.

They then made their way to the local bar, where Walter's partner had been spotted.

They made their entrances separately. Cordelia walked in first and took a seat right at the bar, Sam trudged in not long after and ventured for a seat a couple of tables behind Walter's partner and Dean made a beeline straight towards the man around five minutes later.

Cordelia didn't care to listen in as Dean spoke to Daniel Gunderson, Walter's partner. Instead, she opted to flirt with the bartender ⸻ after all, she needed to get Dean out of her head.

She took a glance over her shoulder and lifted her glass to her lips as she watched Sam pass her and make his way over to Dean.

"Hey, buddy!" Sam's voice called out loudly, he approached Dean before giving him a rough shove. Dean staggered aside and Sam continued, "How 'bout leavin' the poor guy alone, huh?! The man's an officer, why don't you show a little respect?!"

Cordelia smiled lightly, trying to keep her amusement hidden ⸻ everyone in the bar turned to look towards Dean with glares of disgust. The bartender she was talking to even leant down and grumbled, "Guy's an asshole," clearly talking about Dean.

You have no idea, Cordelia thought to herself.

Dean stared at Sam for a moment before he shook his head and began to head out the door, on his way out, however, his eyes flickered between Cordelia and the bartender.

She had now dragged her attention away from the scene and was focused on the brunet behind the bar. He was leant forward, forearms resting on the countertop as he stared down at her, giving her eyes one could only describe as 'sex eyes'.

Get a fuckin' room, Dean thought bitterly to himself. But as he passed, his face said something else ⸻ he looked between Cordelia and the bartender suggestively as he caught her eye and sent her a wink.

Cordelia deflated a little at the action, but soon pulled her eyes away from him and focused on the man in front of her. He went on and on for the next ten minutes, talking to Cordelia about God-knows-what as he served the odd customer, as well as refilling her drink.

Just before Sam headed over to her, the bartender, who she soon learnt was called Christian, handed her a napkin with his number scribbled on it.

"If you're ever in town again, give me a call," he had told her, touch lingering before he pulled his hand away, a flirty smile on his lips.

And instead of throwing it away, like she normally would, she folded it up and pocketed it in her jeans.

Sam gave her a suggestive look, as they walked out of the bar. "What?" She grumbled, folding her arms over her chest as they neared the door, feeling the chill of the air hit her skin.

"First time you haven't thrown one of those away in ages," Sam stated simply, sparing a glance down at her.

"So?" She questioned, pulling a face at his words.

"Cordy, you've slept with, what? Six people in four months? You're losing your touch."

Cordelia gasped and raised a hand, slapping him harshly on his forearm, "You're concerned because I'm not sluttin' it up anymore? Sam, there are bigger concerns than my sex life."

"I don't get you," Sam chuckled, completely ignoring what she had said. "All these men, hundreds, fall at your feet and you don't bat an eyelid, but the greasy bartender? What? You look at him and think that's a bit of me?"

"He was nice, gave me a lot of free drinks," she shrugged light-heartedly. "Not like I'm marrying him or anything, anyway."

Sam paused for a moment before lifting his shoulders in agreement, "Fair enough. Plus, I wouldn't let you marry a guy like that, I'd rather you marry Dean than that guy, and that's saying a lot."

"Ha," Cordelia let out forcibly, a strained smile on her face before she cleared her throat and opted for a change in topic. "You had a little too much fun shoving Dean," she teased.

Sam grinned widely and nodded, "Yeah, I've been waiting to do that for months."

"Should've punched him, it would've been more effective that way," Cordelia suggested jokingly, amusement painting her face.

"Kinda wishing I did hit him instead," Sam laughed lightly as they finally reached the car.

Dean sat on the hood of the Impala, and pushed his hands into his pockets, "You shoved me kinda hard in there, buddy-boy."

Cordelia gave Sam a knowing look and he laughed lightly under his breath.

Sam spread his arms out wide, "I had to sell it, didn't I?"

"It was kinda funny," Cordelia added and Dean shot her a dry, bored look.

"Yeah, thank you, Cordelia," he grumbled under his breath wryly.

"It's method acting," Sam went on to say as he pulled open the passenger seat door.

Dean spun around to face his brother, a look of confusion written across his features, "Huh?"

Sam waved a hand dismissively, "Never mind."

"I think it meant he wanted to shove you... like, he hit you that hard because..." she trailed off when the unamused eyes of Sam met her own, she rolled her lips into her mouth and lowered her eyes to the ground, "Or- or maybe not. I don't know. Ignore me."

Dean stared at Cordelia silently for a long moment, mouth agape, he inhaled deeply before shaking his head and turning his attention over to Sam. "What'd you find out from Gunderson?"

"So, Walter Kelly was a good cop. Head of his class, even-keeled. He had a bright future ahead of him," Sam stated, leaning forward so that he could rest his forearms on the roof of the car.

"What about his home life?" Cordelia asked, pulling her thin jacket around her body tighter.

"He and his wife had a few fights like everybody, but it was mostly smooth sailin', they were even talking about having kids."

"Alright, so, either Kelly had some crazy waiting to bust out or somethin' else did it to him," Dean said with a huff as he, too, rested his forearms on the top of the car.

"Right," Sam nodded in agreement.

"What did Gunderson tell you about the Asylum?" Cordelia asked, leaning over so that she was looking down at the wing mirror, she then proceeded to apply lip gloss and fluff her hair.

What? It didn't matter that it was pitch black out and the only people that could see her in this moment were, Sam, Dean and a few bikers hurdled by the front of the bar ⸻ she still needed to look good.

Sam chuckled lightly and pulled a face, "A lot."

Dean pulled a suggestive look and raised his eyebrows and Sam mirrored that expression, a silent conversation was held and Cordelia internally groaned.

"We're going to the Asylum, aren't we?" She questioned, a pit of dread in her stomach.

"Mhm," Sam nodded and tapped the car roof twice before he got in the passenger seat.

Cordelia threw her head back in dismay and grumbled curses over at the two as she climbed into the back. As Dean got in the front, he flickered the music on, and AC/DC blurred out, making Cordelia want to bang her head against the window.

As Dean pulled out of the parking lot, she poked her head between the two brothers, "Can we listen to something other than AC/CD for once."

Dean blinked and pursed his lips. "AC/DC," he grumbled under his breath, offence written across his face. "And no."

Cordelia sighed and fell back into her seat.

Asshole.

♰

    Luckily, they headed to the Asylum early hours of the next morning, though Cordelia was fighting off sleep. She had forgotten that being a hunter messed up her sleep schedule ⸻ Cordelia couldn't function without a full twelve hours, and yet, here she was, breaking into an Asylum on four hours of sleep.

The three jumped the fence before making their way into the building. It was creepy as creepy could be. It stood tall and abandoned, it was one of those old-looking buildings, and that alone made it more creepy, but knowing what happened here made Cordelia's skin crawl even more.

As they waltzed inside, they made their way into the main entrance and came to a stop. Cordelia shoved her hands into her back pockets as she glanced around, God, it was creepy in there.

"So, apparently, the cops chased the kids here... into the south wing," Sam gestured towards the old, wooden sign above a door that read 'SOUTH WING' the paint was chipped and pieces of wood had broken off from it.

"South wing, huh?" Dean breathed out, brows twitching in thought before he pulled out his Dad's journal and flickered through the pages. "Wait a second. South wing, south wing," he muttered to himself before he paused and his eyes settled on a newspaper clipping. "Nineteen-seventy-two, three kids broke into the south wing, only one survived. The way he tells it, one of his friends went nuts, started lighting up the place."

"Oh, great, so it makes you crazy," Cordelia grumbled to herself. "...And we're here. In a place that makes you crazy."

"Don't worry, Cordy. I don't think it'll affect you that much," Sam teased, patting the back of her shoulder sarcastically as he made his way over to Dean.

"Asshole," she muttered before a sigh left her mouth. "So, I'm guessing that the south wing is the heart of whatever's going on."

"Yep."

"And I'm also guessing we'll be going down there?"

"...Yep."

"But if kids are spelunking the Asylum, why aren't there a ton more deaths?" Dean questioned, glancing around as though he was looking for an answer.

"It looks like the doors are usually chained," Sam voiced, heading towards the broken chains that dangled down from the door. "They could've been chained up for years."

"Yeah, to keep people out," Dean nodded lightly before adding, "Or to keep somethin' in."

"Oh, goody," Cordelia's tone was sarcastic as she lifted her hand to brush her fingers through her hair. She looked towards the Winchesters, who were standing in front of the door in front of the south wing, as though they were both reluctant to go inside.

Cordelia pursed her lips and made her way over to the door before pushing it open and heading down the hallway, "C'mon ladies, stop standing around playing with your bits, I don't wanna be here any longer than we have to."

"I'm not- we're not... shut up Cordelia," Dean grumbled, begrudgingly following after her.

Once the boys had caught up to her, Sam handed Cordelia a flashlight, she took it in hand and glanced around after flicking it on. "I hate places like this, they give me the heebie-jeebies," she internally shuddered, feeling a chill run up her spine.

Dean grunted at her words before briefly glancing over at Sam, "Let me know if you see any dead people, Haley Joel."

"Dude, enough," Sam scoffed and shot his brother a stern look.

Dean, however, just laughed. "I'm serious. You've gotta be careful, alright? Ghosts are attracted to that whole E.S.P. thing you got goin' on."

"I told you, it's not E.S.P.," Sam argued. "I just have strange vibes sometimes, weird dreams-"

"Yeah, whatever, don't ask, don't tell," Dean interrupted, glancing down at the EMF meter in hand.

"Supportive, Dean, remember?" Cordelia reminded him, tone patronizing and he shot her a dirty look, causing her to raise her hands in mock surrender.

Sam sighed and rolled his eyes, "You get any reading on that thing or not?"

"No, of course, it doesn't mean nobody's home."

"Spirits can't appear during certain hours of the day," Cordelia voiced, rubbing her eyes as a yawn escaped her lips.

"The freaks come out at night," Dean crooned before pursing his lips, something on his mind. "Sam, who do you think is a hotter psychic ⸻ Patricia Arquette, Jennifer Love Hewitt, or you?"

"Jennifer Love Hewitt, definitely," Cordelia answered at the same time Sam gave his brother a playful shove.

Dean stumbled forward, laughter bubbling from his lips.

As they made their way into one of the rooms, Cordelia shuddered. The smell alone made her want to throw up, never mind the overall creepiness of it. All sorts of rusted equipment was strewn across a metal table, jars filled with weird, moulding substances laid on the shelves ⸻ one of which was tipped over and a dry stain laid on the table below.

Sam coughed, lifting his hand to cover his nose and Dean whistled as he glanced around, placing the EMF meter in his jacket pocket.

"Kinky," Cordelia grumbled under her breath as she passed a metal chair, which had leather restraints strapped to the arms of it. She swallowed roughly and glanced around, "This place is so creepy."

Her eyes caught sight of a doll head on one of the metal tables, it looked old and ragged, and an eye was poked out.

Lovely.

She picked it up and called out to Dean. "Hey, heads up," she joked, tossing it over to him.

On reflex, Dean caught it, once he realised what it was he dropped it to the floor and shot her a dry look in response.

Sam, however, let out a chuckle ⸻ amused by her actions. At least someone thought she was funny.

The three continued to wander around, Dean grimaced as he looked down at a wooden box, "Man. Electroshock, lobotomies, they did some twisted stuff to these people," Dean said before a playful grin slowly pulled at his lips. "Kind of like my man Jack in Cuckoo's Nest," he quipped, putting a weird voice on that had Cordelia frowning.

"What?" Cordelia questioned, not understanding whatever reference he was going on about now.

Dean's smile faltered at Sam's silence and Cordelia's confusion, he then went on to mumble how these people didn't get him.

"So, what do you think?" Cordelia inquired, eyes flickering up between the brothers briefly before her attention fell on some papers carelessly strewn out on one of the tables ⸻ she couldn't quite work out the handwriting though, Doctors handwriting was always messy. "People are being possessed by ghosts or what?"

"Maybe," Sam shrugged, tone dry before a sigh left his lips. Cordelia glanced over at him again, it was no secret that Sam didn't want to be here, he had made that pretty clear.

Last night, when the three had checked into the motel, Dean had fallen asleep straight away ⸻ and Sam took the opportunity to drag Cordelia to the nearest diner so he could talk her ear off about how much he didn't want to come here.

He had told her how Dean was always adamant to listen to John, how when he told him to do something, he'd do it, no questions asked, no matter how it affected anyone else. Cordelia had gotten the idea that John was a little too much like her own Dad. She had told Sam just to talk to Dean and Sam had told her, that when it came to stuff like this, Dean was not in the mood to talk.

"Maybe it's more like Amityville or the Smurl Haunting," Sam voiced, shoving his hands into his coat pockets.

"Spirits drivin' them insane," Dean nodded before a wide smile pulled at his lips and his face was coaxed with a playful expression. "Kinda like my man Jack in The Shining."

"Why do you keep saying that?" Cordelia frowned, staring at the back of his head in confusion.

He whirled around to face her, opening and closing his mouth as he did so, "I, uh... huh? You don't know Jack Nicholson?"

"Am I supposed to?" Cordelia's brows furrowed even deeper, more confusion painted her face. "Is he like an actor or something?"

Dean's body physically stuttered as he pointed over towards her, he looked towards Sam for help, but the younger Winchester merely shrugged.

"Is he an actor?" He repeated in disbelief, scoffing at her words. "After this, me and you are gonna sit down and watch The Shining."

Cordelia thought for a moment, rolling her lips into her mouth before she slowly shook her head, "...I'd rather we didn't, but okay."

Sam gave a blank stare at Dean's face of shock before he shook his head, "Dean.. when are we gonna talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"About the fact that Dad's not here," Sam said, tone implying that he was serious.

"Oh, uh, let's see..." Dean trailed off, pretending to think for a moment. "Never."

"I'm being serious, man," Sam scoffed, sending Cordelia a brief look as if to say see what I mean?

"So am I, Sam. Look, he sent us here, he obviously wants us here. We'll just have to pick up the search later."

Cordelia bit her tongue ⸻ this wasn't her business, she had no right commenting on it.

"It doesn't matter what he wants," Sam argued.

"See, that attitude right there, that is why I always get the extra cookie," Dean pointed over at his brother before his attention pulled to Cordelia as she scoffed under her breath. "What?"

Cordelia's lips down tugged and she shook her head, averting her gaze, "No. Nothing."

"Dad could be in trouble, we should be looking for him," Sam argued again. "We deserve some answers. I mean, this our family we're talkin' about, and Cordelia's. If Dad knows something don't you think she deserves some answers too?"

"I understand that, Sam, but he's given us an order," Dean retorted, a stone expression written across his face.

"So what? We've always gotta follow Dad's orders?"

"Of course, we do," Dean shot back instantly, Sam gave Dean a look of frustration at his words.

"What is he, some kind of drill Sargent?" Cordelia commented sarcastically under her breath, but the underlying tone of bitterness in her voice was obvious.

"Cordelia," Dean said, a warning tone to his voice. He moved away from Sam, his back facing him as he began pocking and prodding at things on the table.

"Just saying, he kinda sounds like a dick," she shrugged. She was going to keep quiet, but from that little bicker between the brothers she had gotten the idea that John Winchester was similar to her father ⸻ she couldn't keep her mouth shut.

Her Dad wasn't even here and he was still getting to her.

"How about you staying out of it?" Dean snapped harshly, the topic of his father sat a heavy weight on his shoulders. His eyes were glued to the sign on the table, he muttered something under his breath before picking it up. "You know what we've gotta do? We've gotta find out more about the south wing, see if something happened here."

He turned to Sam, sign in hand and shoved it in his chest in passing before he left the room. Sam clenched his jaw in irritation and met Cordelia's eye, "C'mon," he murmured under his breath before following after Dean.

"Touchy subject, huh?" Cordelia muttered sarcastically and Sam let out a humourless laugh.

"You have no idea."

♰

    Later that day, Sam had managed to get an appointment with Dr James Ellicott, the son of Sanford Ellicott, who, with a little research, they found to be chief of staff at Roosevelt Asylum.

Which left Cordelia and Dean alone. Sam had texted her ten minutes ago, stating that he was still in the waiting room. Cordelia passed the message onto Dean, and that was all that was said.

After the tense bicker at the Roosevelt, they were hardly speaking, well, Cordelia and Sam were ⸻ mainly Sam as he ranted about his Dad and Dean to Cordelia, to which she nodded and gave a little mhm when needed, Sam talked about too much too fast, it was hard for her brain to keep up. Plus, he wasn't looking for advice, just someone to rant to.

They waited outside in silence, Cordelia pursed her lips and kicked rocks with the heels of her shoes in annoyance. It had been around fifteen minutes and finally, Dean spoke up.

"I hate freakin' psychiatrists," he grumbled under his breath, staring up at the Creekview Medical Centre.

Cordelia was silent for a moment before she finally looked up at him, "Jess' parents took me to see one after my brother died... they're even weirder inside."

A curious look passed Dean's face, "I didn't know you had a brother."

"Yeah," a soft smile was written across her face as she thought about him, "Adrian. He died when I was fifteen. His girlfriend was into some weird crap, and, uh, convinced herself he was cheating so she summoned this demon thing and it got him."

"Next time I saw her I lost it," a dry chuckle left her mouth. "She showed up at the funeral and I just hit her and I kept on hitting her until my mom pulled me off her. Her parents called the cops on me, had me arrested, but I didn't care, I just wanted her to hurt like he did."

She cleared her throat, pushing away the memories of the funeral, "Anyway, that's how we got into this life... well, there was this hunter, Rufus I think his name was, he was in town for something else and caught wind of what happened to my brother. My dad must've noticed him and figured out he was a hunter and he helped us. He told us about little things, things that would keep us safe, but that wasn't good enough for my Dad."

"After Rufus skipped town my Dad researched everything, I didn't understand why, you know? But he told me he didn't want another family to hurt like ours did, and when my Mom died I realised it wasn't because he wanted to help people, he just wanted something to kill... something to take his anger out on."

At the scoff that left her lips, Dean's eyebrows raised. He had gotten the impression that Cordelia didn't like her Dad very much, whenever they spoke about him, she'd shut down and this look of resentment would cross her face ⸻  the exact look her face held right now.

"You don't talk about your Dad much," he said, and she gave him a look.

"What? And you like talking about yours so much?" She retorted, referring to the conversation which was held only a few hours earlier.

"Touché," he nodded, but let his words hang, as though he was allowing her to speak up, if she chose to do so.

She shrugged at the look on his face and a small sigh left her lips, "Not much to say. He's not a good man, a good hunter, but not for the right reasons. I mean, he comes across like this nice, funny guy... truth is, he's a dick."

Though if asked, Edward would probably say something similar about Cordelia. He didn't like her all that much either. He blamed her for her Mom's death, and for the last six years, he had held it against her.

Before Dean could say anything or even attempt to comfort the girl, Sam walked out of the main entrance, a weird look on his face.

Dean whirled around and his eyes caught sight of Sam, "Dude, you were in there forever. What the Hell were you talking about?"

Sam lightly shook his head as the three headed down the street ⸻  making their way towards the Impala, "Just the hospital, you know?"

"And?" Cordelia asked, glancing up at him in question.

"And, the south wing, it's where they housed the real hard cases ⸻ the psychotics, the criminally insane," he listed off.

"Sounds cosy," Dean quipped, pulling a face.

"Yeah, and one night in sixty-four, they rioted ⸻ attacked the staff, attacked each other," he told them.

"So what? They took over the place?" Cordelia asked, earning a nod from the taller brunet.

"Any deaths?" Dean questioned, coming to a stop as he reached the car.

"Some patients, some staff. I guess it was pretty gory, some of the bodies were never even recovered, including our chief of staff, Ellicott."

"Wait, what do you mean never recovered?" Dean asked, a frown pulling on his face.

"Cops scoured every inch of the place, but I guess the patients must've... stuffed the bodies somewhere hidden." A grimace covered Sam's face at the thought.

"Oh... that's, yeah, no that's gross," Cordelia chirped, internally shuddering at the mere thought of coming across bodies from over forty years ago.

"Yeah. So, they transferred all the surviving patients and shut down the hospital for good," Sam mused, crossing his arms over his chest as he took a seat on the trunk.

"Alright, so, to sum it up we've got a bunch of violent deaths and a bunch of unrecovered bodies," Dean's tongue poked the inside of his cheek as he slowly shook his head in dismay.

"Which could mean a bunch of angry spirits," Sam noted.

"Oh, good times," Dean quipped sarcastically, moving to head over to the driver's side of the Impala. "Let's check out the hospital tonight."

"Fun," Cordelia grumbled under her breath as she pulled the back door open, a woeful look painted across her features.

♰

    When the three had arrived back at the motel, Cordelia dropped to sleep almost straight away ⸻ forgoing a shower, she was too tired, she hadn't slept in so long, and she was beginning to see two of Sam ⸻ one was enough to deal with, let alone two.

After that, she had been rudely awoken by said Winchester; who dragged her out of the bed by her ankle. It was safe to say Sam Winchester was on her hitlist, and yes, Cordelia had a hitlist.

Currently, they were back at the Asylum, and Cordelia lifted her hand to her lips, covering her mouth as she yawned loudly.

Sam slowly pushed open the door leading to the south wing, the creepy creaking noise reverberated throughout the building. Cordelia and Sam pulled out flashlights whilst Dean reached for the EMF meter carelessly shoved in his jacket pocket.

They were silent as they walked and looked around, only the drag of Sam's feet and the buzz of the EMF was heard.

Sam sighed, breaking that silence. "Getting readings?" He asked his brother as he pulled out his video camera.

"Yeah, big time," Dean nodded in confirmation.

"This place is orbing like crazy," Sam commented, eyes glued to the screen of his camera. Dean and Cordelia moved, hovering over his shoulder so that they could take a look.

"There's probably multiple spirits out and about," Dean explained, lowering his voice as he glanced down at the device in hand.

"We've gotta find those bodies and burn them," Cordelia pursed her lips in thought ⸻ there were many uncovered bodies, bodies that the criminally insane had hidden, they may have been hunters but they weren't that good.

"Gotta be careful though, the only thing that makes me more nervous than a pissed off spirit... is a pissed off spirit of a psycho killer," Dean swallowed roughly.

"Unless it's Christian Bale in American Psycho, that's one spirit I wouldn't mind seeing," Cordelia pointed out, avoiding the unamused looks from the Winchesters as she glanced around.

After a moment, her eyes flitted over to them she lifted her shoulders at the expressions on their faces, "What?"

But before either brother could speak up, the sound of footsteps had the three turning their head at a quick speed. Cordelia shone her flashlight down the hallway, but nothing was there.

She nibbled her bottom lip anxiously, "Have I mentioned I hate this place?"

"You hate everything," Dean scoffed as they continued to walk ahead. "Swimming, bugs, Bloody-"

Before the next word could even come out of his mouth, her hand lifted and she slapped his shoulder harshly, he yelped ⸻ not even the three layers on his body could stop the sting on his arm.

"Dude, there's not even any mirrors around," he said, holding his arm as he tried to soothe the pain.

"So what? What if... somewhere out there, there's this, like, advanced Mary and she can be summoned without a mirror," Cordelia said, words spilling out of her lips in a ramble.

Dean's brows furrowed and he blinked twice, mouth opening and closing. He pinched the bridge of his nose.  "No- What?" He stumbled out, looking to Sam for help, but his younger brother merely shrugged. "How'd you get into Stanford again?"

Cordelia's mouth dropped open in offence. Sam grinned and patted her on the back before glancing over at Dean, "Believe it or not, she would've made a good lawyer."

"Thank you- No, wait, what the Hell do you mean believe it or not," she mocked his voice, coming to a stop as she stared at their retreating figures. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think he-"

"Nah, man, don't engage," Sam lowered his voice, a teasing tone to it. "Trick is to ignore her, then she'll just start talking to herself."

"I hate you sometimes, you know that?" Cordelia whisper yelled over at him as she slowly trailed behind them, he spared her a quick sideways smile over his shoulder, not a care in the world. "The second we get outta' this place, I'm kicking your stupid, sorry ass..."

And Cordelia's words trailed off to a quiet whisper as she began to grumble to herself under her breath. Sam gave Dean a look that said I told you so.

Cordelia was predictable.

The three trudged into a large room and split up, heading for different directions in the room. Cordelia pulled back an old, ripped plastic curtain and grimaced. It must've been where they carried out experiments.

A chill ran up her spine as her eyes shifted tersely around the room. She turned, but nothing was there. She reached down to pull open one of the cupboards, but Sam's voice called out, "Guys!"

She whirled around and ran back into the main room at the same time Dean did. She pushed the plastic sheet away as she did so, she dropped the duffle that was thrown over her shoulder to the ground and pulled out the shotgun, cocking it, eyes trained on the spirit ⸻ the woman looked old, blood was splattered along her hospital gown and a large, bloodied hole was in the place where her left eye once sat.

"Duck!" She called out and Sam did just that before she shot at the spirit, watching as she disintegrated into dust.

"That was weird," Sam spoke up after a moment, his chest heaved up and down as he breathed heavily.

"What? The creepy lady with no eye? Weird's kinda in the job description, Sam," Cordelia snarked, leaning down to pick up the duffle, she shrugged it back on her shoulder ⸻ but kept the gun in hand.

"No, Cordy, I mean, it was weird that she didn't attack me," Sam's voice was hushed as he came to a stand beside her.

"Looked pretty aggro from where I was standing," Dean pointed out.

"She didn't hurt me. She didn't even try. So, if she didn't wanna hurt me, what did she want?" Sam questioned, clutching his flashlight to his chest as the three slowly strolled out of the room.

Cordelia sighed as she pushed ahead of the boys, just as she was about to pass a room, a quiet cry beside her was heard. She stopped by the door, holding her arm out in front of the boys, causing them to come to a stop.

She held up her gun and Sam flickered his flashlight back on and shined it into the room. They slowly walked into the room, approaching a metal bed covered in a ragged sheet, laid on its side.

Cordelia's eyes fell on the top of the blonde hair hidden behind it. Sam braced himself before he reached out and pulled the metal bed over, Cordelia gripped her gun tighter when suddenly, a young girl spun around, face terrified and a gasp of shock left her lips.

Cordelia slowly lowered her gun and her face softened, the girl must've been at least sixteen or seventeen. "We're not gonna hurt you, it's okay," she said gently, though she doubted it comforted the girl ⸻ I mean, Cordelia was carrying a gun with two insanely tall men, if it was sixteen-year-old Cordelia, she would've been intimidated.

At her words, the young girl reluctantly came to a stand, breathing heavily. Dean gave a comforting smile, "What's your name?"

"Katherine," she breathed out, eyes tentatively flickering between the three. "Kat."

"Okay. I'm Dean, this is Sam and that's Cordelia," he pointed over at the other two.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked without hesitation, a furrow in his brows.

"Um... my boyfriend, Gavin-"

"Is he here?" Dean asked.

"Somewhere," Kat mumbled, voice shaky as she wrapped her long wool cardigan around her body. "He thought it would be fun to try and see some ghosts."

Cordelia opened and closed her mouth and lowered her voice as she whispered over at Sam, "Why don't kids just make out in the back of a movie theatre, is that not cool anymore?"

Sam gave her a dry, unamused look at her words. "Not the time," he slowly shook his head, voice matching her whispers.

Unbeknown to the pair of brunettes, Kat continued, "I thought it was all just... you know, pretend. I've seen things. I heard Gavin scream, and-"

"Alright, Kat, come on. Sam's gonna get you out of here," Dean said, going to grab her arm to pull her along. "Then we're gonna go find your boyfriend."

"No, no," she tugged her arm away and looked between the three as she sniffled. "I'm not gonna leave without Gavin. I'm coming with you."

"Frankly, I've never heard anything more stupid," Cordelia remarked, left hand gripping tightly onto the strap of the duffle that was perched on her shoulder.

Dean nodded in agreement, "It's no joke. It's dangerous."

"That's why I've got to find him," Kat argued, brushing her blonde strands away from her face.

The three met eyes and had a silent conversation before Dean spoke up, "Alright. I guess we're gonna split up, then. Let's go."

Dean and Kat ventured off in one direction, whilst Sam and Cordelia headed for another. "Gavin!" Sam yelled down the hallway, voice echoing.

Cordelia let out a deep sigh before looking over at Sam, "I don't get kids. I mean, do they not watch horror movies? The horny teenagers always die."

"Didn't you..." Sam began to say, voice trailing off as he gave Cordelia a pointed look.

"That's different, I'd been hunting for like two years then," Cordelia argued with a careless shrug.

Sam scoffed in amusement. "Right," he muttered before calling out, "Gavin!"

As the pair wandered around, they caught sight of a small room. Sam shone the torch around and his eyes set on the figure on the floor. He tapped Cordelia, getting her attention, before he ran over to the unconscious teenager.

He crouched down in front of him and shook him. "Gavin? Hey, Gavin?" Sam shook him harder, turning to give Cordelia a dry look as her foot shot out, kicking the young boy's shoe in an attempt to wake him.

Gavin suddenly shot up and began freaking out, a gasp leaving his lips and his eyes wide. "It's okay. It's okay, we're here to help," Sam reassured him.

"Who are you?!" The boy asked, voice shaking in fear as he scooted across the floor, trying to get away from the pair of strangers.

"My name is Sam, that's Cordelia," Sam introduced, pointing over at the brunette girl as he did so.

"We found your girlfriend," Cordelia told the young boy, his head snapped up towards her at her words.

"Kat?" He grunted out, taking the hand that Sam had offered to pull him up. "Is she alright?"

"She's worried about you. Are you okay?" The Winchester asked, staring down at the boy in concern.

Gavin lifted a hand to his head and winced. "I was running. I, uh, I think I fell," he panted out, breathing heavily.

"Running from what?" Cordelia questioned, brushing her hair away from her face before she shifted on her feet.

"There was... there was this girl. Her- her face... it was all messed up," Gavin said, wide-eyed as he recalled of the events.

"Okay, listen, listen, this girl ⸻ did she try to hurt you?" Sam asked, his voice filled with urgency.

Gavin slowly shook his head, eyebrows jumping up in confusion, "What No, she uh..."

Cordelia's brows furrowed and she took a step towards him, "She what?"

"She kissed me."

Cordelia's brows furrowed deeper, and a V shape formed. She and Sam met eyes before looking back over at Gavin. "I'm sorry, she kissed you?" Cordelia questioned sceptically, earning a faint nod from the boy.

Sam looked between the two, "Uh, um, but she didn't hurt you... physically?" He stuttered out, Gavin's words taking him off guard.

"Dude, she kissed me. I'm scarred for life," Gavin shot back, face pulling into a grimace ⸻ if Cordelia was being honest, she thought he was going to throw up.

Sam let out a scoff of disbelief, "Well, trust me, it could have been worse."

"I don't know, Sam, I think I'd rather be attacked than kissed," Cordelia grumbled under her breath, Gavin pointed at her and nodded in agreement. "I mean, if she had a messed up face, that could've been, like, infected," she said before turning to Gavin. "You should get checked out when you get out of here."

Sam sighed, opening and closing his mouth before he lifted a hand silently saying that's enough before his attention went back to Gavin. "Now, do you remember anything else?"

"She, uh, actually, she tried to whisper something in my ear."

"What?" Sam asked.

Gavin shook his head and lifted his shoulders, "I don't know, I ran like Hell."

Sam stared at him blankly before looking over at Cordelia, who shrugged.

Smart guy, she thought to herself, but soon her ears perked as she heard a loud, clanking noise.

She looked around in confusion before turning back to face Sam. "You hear that?"

"Dean?" Sam questioned and Cordelia tilted her head and raised her eyebrows in answer. "C'mon," he grabbed Gavin by the jacket and pulled him along as the three broke into a sprint, running to find the source of the noise.

When they finally reached Dean, he was attempting to pry open a metal door with a crowbar, but it looked to them as though he was failing.

"What's going on?!" Sam called out, running straight for Dean.

"She's inside with one of 'em," Dean called out, not taking his eyes off of the door.

Kat's voice reverberated throughout the hallway as she cried and called out for them, "Help me!" She yelled repeatedly.

"Kat!" Gavin screamed, tone filled with worry as he stood helplessly by the door.

"Get me out of here!"

Sam braced his hands on the door as he spoke, "Kat, it's not gonna hurt you. Listen to me! You have to face it, you have to calm down."

Dean paused and turned to face his brother, a sceptical look on his face as he rose his eyebrows, "She got to what?"

"I have to what?"

"They're not trying to hurt us, they're trying to tell us something. You need to listen to it. You've gotta face it," Cordelia added, voice loud enough so that the young girl could hear her over the bashing of the door.

"You face it!" She retorted manically, voice filled with distress.

"No, it's the only way you're gonna get out of there," Sam told her.

"Look, I know you're scared, but the sooner you face it, the quicker you're out of there," Cordelia reasoned, a comforting tone to her voice. "All you've gotta do is look at it."

It was quiet for a very long minute, all that was that was heard was the faint heavy breathing coming from the four standing outside and a low grumble coming from behind the metal door.

The four waited in anticipation, worry coaxing their faces.

"Kat?" Gavin broke the tense atmosphere as he called out to his girlfriend.

"I hope you're right about this," Dean muttered lowly, looking over at the two brunettes.

Cordelia swallowed roughly and shook her head, "We are. Trust me."

Just then, a loud click was heard as the door unlatched. It creaked eerily as it pushed open, Kat stood in the doorway, an anxious look on her face.

Sam and Dean raced into the room, Sam with his flashlight held up and Dean took the gun from Cordelia's hand as a precaution.

The Moore girl waited outside the room with the two teenagers, focusing her attention on the blonde, "Are you alright?"

"One-thirty-seven," was all the girl said in response, swallowing the large lump that had formed in her throat.

"I'm sorry?" Dean questioned in confusion.

Kat sighed, "It whispered in my ear one-thirty-seven."

"Could be a room number?" Cordelia suggested, lifting her shoulders into a shrug, an unsure look on her face.

The Winchesters nodded and mumbled "room number," under their breaths in agreement, Cordelia smiled lightly at how in sync they were.

She pulled the duffle from over her shoulder and dropped it to the ground, crouching down, she began to shuffle through it.

"So if these spirits aren't trying to hurt anyone..." Sam trailed off.

"Then what are they trying to do?" Dean finished with a sigh.

"Maybe that's what they've been trying to tell us," Cordelia answered, looking up at the two brothers.

"I guess we'll find out," Dean said, a tight smile pulling at his lips before he faced the two teenagers. "So, now you guys ready to leave this place?"

"That's an understatement," Kat let out humourlessly, a dry tone to her voice.

"Okay, you get them out of here," Dean turned to face Sam. "We'll go find room one-thirty-seven." He said, gesturing towards Cordelia, who handed the duffle bag over to Sam once she had gotten what she needed out of it.

So once again, they split up.

♰

    Cordelia and Dean had finally found room one-thirty-seven after wandering around for the last five minutes.

He looked over at her and nodded in a are you ready? motion, resulting in her nodding back. Dean turned his body sideways and used his shoulder to shove the door open, using his weight to push aside the broken furniture blocking it.

The room was a mess. Filing cabinets were pushed over, paper was strewn all over the floor, and the walls were stained with a mysterious substance.

Cordelia shone her torch around before it flitted to the floor, finding a small golden sign, the name on it read, Sanford Ellicott.

"It was his office," Cordelia spoke up, lifting her gaze from the floor and over to Dean. "Ellicott's."

Dean nodded and followed after her as she trailed off towards the extended room. As Cordelia looked around, Dean headed over to the wall, where a bunch of old, tattered files were laid.

He looked through them, and one by one, threw them out of reach once he noticed the writing had been smudged and was unintelligible.

His eyes narrowed lightly as they set sight of the loose panel on the wall. He pried it off and pulled out a brown, leather satchel.

Dean grinned in victory and dropped it down onto the metal table beside him, he came to a stand and unwrapped the leather binding.

"This is why I get paid the big bucks," he chuckled to himself with a wide smile.

At his words, Cordelia whirled around to face him, brows furrowed at his words, "You're broke, what are you talking about?"

Dean rolled his eyes at her retort. "Come here," he beckoned, gesturing with his hand. "Look at this."

The Moore woman headed over to him, she took a seat on the table, crossing one leg over the other as she looked down at the book in hand.

Dean grabbed a chair, moving it over to Cordelia so that they both could read. He flickered through the pages, their faces turning into disturbed scowls at the many sketches of medical equipment.

The drawings all had detailed notes on how they worked, what effects they had, etc... Cordelia grimaced. "This is so gross, I mean, look at that one," Cordelia reached out, finger prodding at one of the drawings. "He used that to drill holes in someone's head while they were awake. Ew, look at-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Dean held up a hand, silencing her, his eyes trained on the stack of paper he had pulled out from the book. "Look at this, Ellicott was working on an extreme rage therapy. He thought if he got them angry enough, they'd be cured of it."

"So that must be it," Cordelia said, meeting his eye. Only just realising how close they were ⸻ his forearm rested on the table right beside her thigh, her face near his as she stared down at him. She swallowed and dragged her eyes away from his, focusing her gaze on the journal. "The spirits, the cop, the kids... they get so angry they turn all... murder-y."

"Well all work and no play makes Dr. Ellicott a very dull boy," Dean muttered under his breath, face scrunching up in concern at what he was reading.

"That literally makes no sense," Cordelia snorted in amusement before she shook her head, she opened her mouth to say something else when a noise from the hall pulled her gaze away from Dean and towards the door.

The pair met eyes for a second before Cordelia slid down from the table and grabbed her torch. Dean led her out of the room, leaving the journal and the stack of papers behind.

He stopped beside the door for a moment, eyes flitting around as he surveyed the area before he stepped out. They trudged down the halls in alarm, eyes flickering about.

They must've been walking for two minutes when Dean's foot knocked into a stray piece of equipment, the clank reverberated throughout the hall.

Cordelia's hand lightly smacked against his arm, voice a hushed whisper, "Nice going, asshat."

"You didn't see it either," Dean shot back in the same tone and volume as he sent her a brief glare in response.

"Well, I'm not the one who walked into it, am I?" She said.

Just as the pair went to turn the corner, Dean's eyes caught sight of the shotgun in Kat's hands, her finger rested on the trigger before pressed down, his eyes widened and without a second, Dean's hand splayed across Cordelia's stomach, pulling her body into his.

His fingers slipped under her top, skimming the skin near her breast. They both pressed against the wall, Cordelia could feel Dean's chest rise and fall as they breathed heavily. She turned her head, looking at the corner of the wall, finding large clouds of smoke and plaster fell onto the ground.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it," Dean muttered before raising his voice, "Don't shoot! It's us!"

Cordelia shut her eyes, huffing out a breath of air as she tried to catch her breath and slow her quickly beating heart, though it didn't help as Dean leant down, beside her ear. "You alright, sweetheart?" He asked, staying in place for just a second before he realised how he was holding her, he then took a step back and cleared his throat.

"Yeah," she breathed out, turning to face him, her back resting against the wall before she peered around the corner, eyes settling on Kat and Gavin.

"Sorry, sorry," Kat chirped, eyes wide as she stared at them in shock as they approached.

"What are you still doing here?" Dean asked, arms opening wide in a questioning manner. "Where's Sam?"

"He went to the basement," Gavin told them, hand flying out in the direction of the basement. "You called him."

Dean stared at them for a moment, dumbfounded before he shook his head, "I didn't call him."

"His cell phone rang, he said it was you," Kat explained, face pulling into one of confusion.

Dean stayed silent, meeting Cordelia's eyes, the two having a silent conversation. "Basement, huh?"

The blonde teen merely nodded in answer.

"Alright. Watch yourselves," Dean said, pulling his gun from the duffle that Sam must've left on the floor. "And watch out for us."

"Yeah, please try avoid shooting at my face the next time you see me," Cordelia snarked before her words softened. "Stay safe, okay?"

Kat lightly nodded again, watching as the pair took off.

♰

"Sammy?" Dean called out, shining the torch around as they scoured the hallway. "Sam!"

Cordelia turned, pursing her lips as she shone her torch, but her heart jumped wildly in her chest as she came face to face with Sam.

She jumped in surprise, hand nursing her heart in shock. "Holy shit!" She breathed out before lifting a hand, whacking him on the arm. "Why are you lurking like a creeper? Did you not hear Dean shout you? Answer him next time!"

"You alright?" Dean asked, coming up from behind Cordelia, concerned eyes flitted up and down his brother's figure, checking for injuries.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sam breathed out with a light nod of his head.

"I'm not," Cordelia grumbled bitterly under her breath, running a hand through her hair.

"You know it wasn't me who called your cell, right?" Dean asked, eyes trained on Sam as he and his brother ignored her quiet mumbling.

"Yeah, I know. I think somethin' lured me down here," Sam answered, stuffing his hands into his jacket pocket.

"I think I know who ⸻ Dr. Ellicott. That's what the spirits have been tryin' to tell us. You haven't seen him, have you?"

"No," Sam shook his head, eyes flickering between the two in question. "How do you know it was him?"

"Because we found his-"

"I found his logbook," Dean interrupted, giving her a side glance, Cordelia scoffed at his childishness.

"Whatever. Apparently, he was experimenting on his patients. Some weird shit in there," Cordelia's face pulled into a grimace.

"But it was the patients who rioted," Sam pointed out, brows furrowed.

"Yeah, against Dr. Ellicott. He was working on some kind of rage therapy thing. He thought that if he could get his patients to vent their anger, they'd be cured, but it only made them angrier. So I," Cordelia gave Dean a pointed stare, in which he rolled his eyes at, "Thought, what if his ghost is doing the same thing to these people? The cop, the kids... he made them so angry they became murderous."

Instead of the nod of appreciation or the "God, Cordelia, you're so smart," she had expected, she got nothing. Sam just stared at her blankly, seeming to have other things going on in his mind and Dean already began to walk off.

"Come on, we've gotta find his bones and torch 'em," Dean told his brother in passing, pulling the strap of the duffle up his shoulder.

"How? The police never found his body," Sam pointed out, not moving an inch.

Dean stopped in place and turned to face Sam. "The logbook said he had some hidden procedure room down here, somewhere he'd work on his patients, so, if I was a patient, I'd drag his ass down here and do a little work on him myself," Dean explained before he turned to Cordelia with a sarcastic look on his face. "Bet you didn't think of that, did ya'?"

"You're a child," Cordelia stated, raising her eyebrows at the expression on his face.

"I don't know. Sounds kinda..."

"Crazy?" Dean assumed, moving to head off down the hallway, torch shining against the stained walls as he searched for the hidden procedure room.

"If the shoe fits," Cordelia pointed out, sparing Sam a glance as she followed after Dean. "It kind of makes sense."

However, she soon regretted admitting that as Dean turned to her, pointing a finger in her face in victory. She slapped his hand away with a glare just as he pulled open a metal door, grumbling under his breath.

Cordelia gestured for Sam to follow before she stepped into the room, nose screwing up at the smell. Sam slowly walked into the room, dragging his feet as he did so.

"I told you, I looked everywhere, I didn't find a hidden room," he stated, voice wry.

"Well, that's why they call it hidden," Dean quipped back, eyes not on Sam ⸻ had they been, he may have noticed the tightened jaw and palpable look in his eyes.

Cordelia's eyes narrowed as she heard the whistle of the wind. She turned around, trying to find the source of it. "You hear that, right?"

"Yeah," Dean breathed out, him, too, glancing around before his eyes caught sight of something. He crouched down in front of the wall. "There's a door here."

Cordelia sank to her knees beside him, her eyes lifted staring at the wall, she raised her hand and knocked. "It's hollow, you got an axe in there or something?"

Dean shrugged the duffle off his shoulder and unzipped it, searching through the bag before pulling out a crowbar. He handed it over to the brunette, just as Sam's voice eerily spoke.

"Dean," he said, the pair turned to him, he had his shotgun raised, aimed straight at Dean and crimson trickled down from his nose. "Step back from the door."

The pair slowly rose, a look of concern written across Dean's face, "Sam, put the gun down," he told his brother.

"Is that an order?" The youngest Winchester mocked.

"Sam-"

"This has nothing to do with you, Cordelia, stay out of it," Sam snapped, anger going from zero to one hundred as he trained his gun on her and without a second pulled the trigger, sending her body flying back into the wall, her body breaking the plaster.

As her back hit the ground, she grunted. It may have only been rock salt, but damn it hurt. Her ears blurred out as yelling came from the next room. It sounded as though she was underwater, but she knew she heard a second shot.

She groggily lifted her body, pulling herself up just enough to see Dean slumped against the wall in the other room. He'd be alright, she told herself, it was only rock salt. So, with that in mind, she ignored the pair who soon began to fight and with a determined look in her eye, and plaster in her Goddamn hair, she searched for Ellicott's bones.

She glanced around, pushing back the plastic sheets that were strung up as she did so. Footsteps caught her attention and she turned, finding Dean sluggishly dragging himself into the room, crimson ran down the side of his head.

"You good?" She asked, eyeing the injury as he handed her over a flashlight.

"Yeah, you?" Dean dismissed his wound with a careless wave of his hand. But anyone with eyes could see that he was not 'good' physically or emotionally. Whatever Sam had said to Dean back there had hurt him.

She nodded in answer, making a mental note to check on his head once they were done before the pair split up. As Cordelia glanced around, her eyes settled on a small, white, metal cabinet a few feet away.

She shone her torch over it, eyes falling on a tuft of something that poked out of the corner of the closed cupboard. She moved closer and crouched down in front of it.

Turning the door handle with an eerie creek, she pulled the door open ⸻ finding a rancid, mummified Dr. Ellicott. She gagged at the smell, lifting a hand to cover her mouth and nose.

"I hate this job," she grumbled to herself, coughing lightly. "Dean! I got him!" She called out, angling her head towards the Winchester as he made his way over to her.

The smell must've spread far as Dean lifted a hand over his face, expression pulling into a grimace, "Oh, that's just gross," he said before dropping his duffle bag to the ground, he sifted through it, pulling out the salt container.

He handed it over to the brunette, she salted the body as Dean pulled out a small tube of kerosene and began squirting it over Dr. Ellicott's mummified form. "Soak it up," Dean grumbled to himself before a small gag left his mouth.

Cordelia paused her actions and turned to him before swallowing roughly, "Don't do that, if you throw up, I'll throw up." She said, pulling a lighter from the duffle.

"I can't help it," Dean argued, face pulling into a grimace. "It's gross."

Suddenly, one of the gurneys flew across the room and knocked into Dean, throwing him against the ground. Cordelia turned in surprise at the action but before she could move, a harsh tug of her hair caused her to cry out. Dr. Ellicott's grimy fingers locked into her locks and as he pulled her head back, the clasp of her necklace broke.

"Don't be afraid," Ellicott said, voice holding a mocking tone as his hands moved up to her face, hands lighting up. "I'm going to help you. I'm going to make you all better."

Cordelia struggled to find the lighter that had fallen out of her grip, her hands frantically searching the floor, luckily, she soon found it and slid it across the floor, hoping it'd land somewhere in Dean's direction.

As Dean felt the lighter hit his hand, he shot up and staggered over to the mummified body. Cordelia's groans of pain echoed around the room. He flickered the lighter on before throwing it into the cupboard.

As the body lit up in flames, Ellicott's eyes pulled away from Cordelia and he set his sights on the burning body. His hands left her face and she quickly scrambled away ⸻ Dean grabbed her by her forearm and dragged her across the floor and over to him.

They laid near Sam's unconscious body as they watched Ellicott hold his hands out in front of them, staring at them as they turned black and fell to the ground, crumbling on impact, as did the rest of his body.

Cordelia slumped against the floor, her palms on the ground as she held her body up. She exhaled deeply just as Dean spoke up. "Are you okay?"

"Am I okay?" She questioned, eyebrows raising in surprise. "Are you? You look like you just did five rounds with Mike Tyson."

"Yeah," he breathed out, eyes flitting over to Sam as he noticed his younger brother slowly sitting up. "You're not gonna try and kill me, are you?"

"No," Sam swallowed roughly, raising a hand to wipe at the crimson on his top lip.

"Good," Dean nodded, a wry smile on his face. "'Cause that would be awkward."

The three soon made their way out, and despite Sam not trying to kill Dean again, there was still an awkward atmosphere that hung between the brothers. No one said anything as Dean led them out of the basement ⸻ Sam hung in back with Cordelia, mind somewhere else.

He gave her an absent-minded nod when she asked him if he was okay, eyeing the bruise that was beginning to form on his jaw.

It may have been a three-minute trip back outside, but it felt like they had been walking for decades, and quite frankly, Cordelia had never wished to be anywhere else more than she had now.

Once they finally got outside and jumped the fence, Cordelia's brows screwed up at the sight of Gavin and Kat waiting for them, sitting on the curb of the sidewalk.

Once Kat spotted them, she came to a stand and approached them, Gavin followed after her like a lost puppy.

"What are you still doing here?" Cordelia asked, eyes squinting as the blaring sun shone down on them.

"We just wanted to make sure you guys got out... and to say thank you," Kat said, smiling kindly over at the three as she fiddled with the sleeves of her cardigan.

She gave Gavin a hard nudge on the shoulder and he cleared his throat, "Uh, yeah, thanks."

"No more haunted Asylums, okay?" Dean stated, giving them a pointed look.

The pair nodded lightly before moving to go off when Cordelia stopped the blonde in place as she called her name, the brunette approached the teenager. "One piece of advice, girl to girl, break up with him. If this is his idea of a date..." Cordelia grimaced, words trailing off.

Kat pursed her lips, hiding an amused smile, "Don't worry, I already did."

Cordelia gave her a kind smile before turning and heading back to the Winchesters. As she reached the Impala, she caught the end of Sam's sentence, "-I said some awful things back there."

"You remember all that?" Dean asked, eyebrows raising, a weird look on his face.

Sam nodded reluctantly. "Yeah. It's like I couldn't control it, but I didn't mean it ⸻ any of it."

A small scoff left Dean's lips as he averted his gaze. "You didn't, huh?" He asked as though he didn't believe him.

"No. Of course not," Sam shook his head, watching Dean carefully as he pulled a face. "Do we need to talk about this?"

"No, no," Dean suddenly turned, moving away from the trunk as he headed for the driver's side. "I'm not really in the sharing and caring kind of mood. I just wanna get some sleep," he said, tugging the door open with more of a pull than he usually would.

♰

Contradicting his words, the first thing Dean did when he got back to the motel room was not sleep. He paced for some time, sat and grumbled unintelligibly under his breath as Cordelia checked his wounds and he watched Sam with a weird look in his eye as he slept.

The first thing Cordelia did may have been cleaning Dean's cut, but the second she was done she jumped in the shower ⸻ wanting to get the feeling of Dr. Feelgood's grimy fingers off of her skin.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, changed and cleaned, Dean was still awake. He was sat by a small table in the corner, fiddling with something in his hand. She observed him, he sat in a dark grey t-shirt and shorts ⸻ Cordelia couldn't help herself as her eyes glazed over his tanned arms, before falling to his legs.

His head lifted as the brunette walked into the room. She spared him a glance as she slung her towel over the chair opposite his. He looked tense, the words that Sam said to him played on his mind.

He rose from his seat and moved over to her, handing her something. She looked down, finding her broken necklace resting in her palm, only it wasn't broken ⸻ he had fixed it.

She stared at him in surprise, but he said nothing, only moving over to the bed before he pulled the sheets back. Cordelia swallowed roughly and placed her necklace on the table before moving over to the bed. She tugged down the sheets on her side and got in.

Dean's eyes didn't avert from the ceiling, he continued to look up at the plain wall ⸻ but he could feel her gaze burning his side profile.

"Thank you," she kept her voice low in an attempt not to wake Sam. "For fixing my necklace and for saving my ass today... again."

He turned to face her with a small sigh and a shrug as if his actions weren't all that important, "I knew how much it meant to you, so..."

"You fixing it means a lot too, I didn't know Dean Winchester could be so..." her teasing words trailed off as she thought.

"Soppy?" He scoffed in question, but she gave a soft smile in response.

"Sweet," she corrected. She knew that Dean was a kind man, I mean, considering the job you had to be... you had to care for others, but for him to do this, this was a whole other level of sweet.

It may have sounded stupid, it may seem like nothing at all, but this was probably one of the nicest things someone had done for her ⸻ it was the necklace Jess had gotten her, she could've done it herself or she could've gone to the jewellers, but he did it without her even asking.

He just thought to.

She soon realised she had not yet said another word, she just remained staring over at him. She watched as his own eyes fell to her lips for a moment, her breath hitched, and her body grew warm. She couldn't help herself as her own eyes drifted down to his ⸻ but she turned away after a mere second.

She inhaled deeply, shaking her head lightly as she had an internal battle with herself. Dean watched as she climbed out of the bed, moving towards one of the chairs, she grabbed her zip-up hoodie that had been carelessly slung over the back of it and shrugged it over her shoulders as she pulled the motel room door open and left.

Dean sat for a moment and thought. Was he imagining this? Was he merely going insane, trying to conjure up an image of what he hoped for? Back at the motel during the last case, he nearly kissed her, he would've if it hadn't of been interrupted.

He didn't understand whatever feelings that curled in his stomach, he had been trying to figure them out for the past few weeks, but he couldn't work it out. Sure he had girlfriends in the past, but ones that didn't last and ones that he wasn't really into. He wasn't a stranger to feeling feelings, but this was different. He liked them, but he liked Cordelia. It was all too confusing for him, but he knew one thing ⸻ he wanted to kiss her.

Maybe he was wrong, but he had an inkling that she felt the same.

So, he dragged himself out of the bed and followed after her, closing the door quietly behind him. She had her back facing him, the side of her body rested against the wall. She turned her head slightly at the sound of the door shutting but didn't move.

She looked up and breathed out heavily, mind reeling as a decision was being made, and that decision solidified once she heard the quiet footsteps of Dean approaching her.

Fuck it, what's the worst that could happen?

She turned and met him halfway, he seemingly had the same idea in mind. Without a second to react, Cordelia's lips met his. His hands settled on her waist, fingers gripping into the skin as he pulled her closer. Her hands rested on either side of his face as their lips melded together.

Dean pulled away, looking down into her eyes ⸻ searching for something, in his mind, he was beginning to think that she regretted it, but when she gave him a soft smile and her hand slid up to the back of his neck, pulling him down to meet her lips once again...

He soon realised she didn't.

Author's Note!
this is gonna be such a 'friends to lovers' and 'she fell first, he fell harder' trope with a lot of angst in season1 and 2 and NO they didn't shag it was JUST a kiss, just wanted to clear that up lmao

i was watching ep 3x19 of tvd and i had to omg