Top 10 Reasons I Should Have Gone to Science Camp

[Teagan]

#1) Karma loves run away kids. Loves to knock them over, that is.

Unnoticed by the few pedestrians, the small form of a teenage girl quietly swung her legs back and forth on a seat outside of a coffee shop on the corner of the street. Content, Teagan was, having successfully escaped the dreaded bus ride to Science Camp with no trouble whatsoever. No more stupid games. No more lame crafts. And no more KP duty. Although the girl did feel a slight disappointment about missing the opportunity of mixing chemicals to prank her fellow campers, knowing she would never have to sing another dumb campfire song made the whole escapade worth it. Now she was free.

A small smile tugged at Teagan's mouth as the faint aroma of an oncoming storm drifted past her. Thunderstorm, if she was right. And she would be. No one could read the signs of a storm like Teagan Cassidy. Within moments, a slight drizzle drifted upon the quiet streets of Keystone. Ah, she had definitely spent too much time outside of Seattle. Closing her eyes, she let herself momentarily drift back to the verdigris streets of her hometown. An image of her parents, stern and angry, immediately appeared. Whoops. Maybe not the best thing to think about.

The mysterious Casey then. He or she must have really mis-dialed the number to send a message to her. For a moment, Teagan entertained the idea of replying to the message, or even giving Casey a call to let them know of the misunderstanding and that she wished Casey good luck in the search for the Winchesters.

Or...

Her legs stopped swinging as she paused for thought. Teagan realized that as great as the idea of ditching Science Camp was, it meant she didn't have a place to stay for the night. Maybe if she called Casey and offered to help find those guys (Sam and Dean, was it?), Casey would let her board a couple of nights. Yeah, that sounded good.

A sign across the street advertising a new blend of tea caught Teagan's eye. A dry thirst rose in her mouth and persuaded her to leave her pleasant spot in the rain. She stood and casually walked to the stoplight a few feet away. Teagan pushed the metal button and waited.

After all, she didn't need to call Casey just yet. Who knew? Casey could end up being one of the strangers her mother always warned her about. As soon as she thought about it, Teagan frowned. Two guys weren't exactly lost puppy dogs. The concern might be legit. Regardless, the matter of Casey and her missing "allies" could wait until after she had sipped a relaxing glass of the raspberry blend.

The stoplight turned green and the WALK sign appeared on the other end of the street. Placing the gray hood of her WSU sweatshirt over her head, she made her way to the other side of the crosswalk. Two steps onto the sidewalk, a strong force sprawled the petite teen across the ground.

"Ow," she mumbled, a tad disoriented. A sharp pain bolted through her arm. That couldn't be good. Teagan glanced at the stinging wound. Oh, good. Only a cut. Hmph. She glanced up at the tall man who was dusting off his jeans. "Where's the fire bud?"

[Casey]

Deacon looked up at the sky with a sense of forbodding. It looked like it was gonna start raining again. He pushed the collar of his flannel over shirt up around his neck. The letter in his hand was for The Wesson’s mortgage and he didn’t want it getting wet. He’d gotten a coffee ring on the last one and the banker had threatened to not accept it. That guy just lived to make lives difficult.

He was almost to the mail box in front of the local café when it started to rain. Deacon swore under his breath and broke into a light run.

Unfortunately he didn’t notice the girl stepping onto the sidewalk. She was tiny compared him, kind of tiny that didn’t stand a chance of standing even with a glancing blow. When she fell over he checked to see if she was okay, then ran his hands over his jeans out of impulse.

Deacon looked up, or rather down, in surprise when she spoke. He’d been so stressed about the check, he was having problems focusing on anything else.

“Fire? Wha-? No I just gotta’…mail,” he held up the check to show her then looked at it, “one second,” he took the extra step to the mail box and slid the letter in, “sorry ‘bout that. You okay?”

He offered her a hand, “Was kinda out of it. Let me get you something while someone takes a look at that cut. Ronda’s Café okay with you or do I need to beg for forgiveness somewhere more expensive?"

“Names Deacon by the way, figure you should know your attacker.”

[Teagan]

#2) Without safety guidelines and rules, you will get hurt.

Teagan paused as the man dropped the letter in the mailbox, stumbling over his words the entire way. She had never seen someone so utterly focused on getting one letter mailed that they ignored everything around them. Well, not so much. Her mom did that all the time, often tripping over the trash cans on her way through the kitchen. But this wasn't Seattle, and the large man was certainly not her mom.

When he offered her his hand, Teagan accepted it, wincing as the cut on her arm protested the strain. The man's eyes narrowed at her flinch, and then drifted down to the cut. Whoa. Major deja vu. The look on his face seemed painfully akin to her father's when she scratched herself playing football for the first time. Either parental instincts, or she just had this pitiful look about her. Teagan didn't know which...

As he offered her something from the nearby cafe, Teagan paused.

He's a stranger, she reminded herself. A rather tall and oddly-behaving stranger. And if Teagan wanted to prove to her parents that she was responsible enough to live life on her own, she needed to identify this situation with a red flag. On the other hand, Teagan realized that the man did knock her over, and offering a drink was a respectable thing to do.

The man filled the awkward silence by supplying his name. Deacon.

Well, that seemed nice enough. But one could never be sure. Especially one who decided to fly solo and ditch camp in the middle of a random city. Still...

She returned the formality with an impish smile. "So you know who you knocked down, Teagan. Teagan Cassidy." She tenderly brushed grains of asphalt from around the cut. If Deacon said he could help her, then she might as well go with him. "Thanks. I'm actually heading there anyways, so sure." And to be safe... "Meeting one of my friends." And to sound credible... "My friend Casey."

Her parents would be so proud.

[Casey]

“Nice to meet ya Teagan,” He smiled and opened the door, “Injured first. What do you want to drink?”

Deacon listened to the girl speak. Seemed a little jittery, but hey she’d just be knocked down. Didn’t really know him either. Teagan was allowed to be cautious. Unless she another shape shifter.

He snorted, “I know a Casey. Difficult bastard to hold a conversation with.” Deacon stopped and hit himself in the forehead. Shouldn’t swear in front of kids, not all of them are like Aiden. “Sorry, got to wash my out. Well, hope your Casey isn’t as difficult as mine. It a guy or a girl?”



Arthur Rook was taking notes out of his Lit book when the door to the café opened. He glanced up, his brother was supposed to be showing up soon. Sure enough the man was walking in, but with a girl? Art narrowed his eyes in thought. She was way too young for him to be flirty with, Deacon didn’t go for jail bait. Art closed his book and slipped it into his bag. He pushed his glasses up his nose before finally going over.

As he got closer he heard Deacon mention Casey. His brother had told him about what had happened with Jefferson and Aiden. He believed every word of it mostly because Deacon never had a reason to lie. Unless he thought it was funny of course. Or he was pissed at you.

Art pulled at his beanie and looked out the window at the rain. Was this girl involved somehow? He shook his head. Who cared, as long as he didn’t get shot at he didn’t.

“De, what’s up,” He asked his brother, then turned to the girl, “Who you?”

[Teagan]

#3) Sure, there are strangers at Science Camp, but none that make you feel like running the other direction at 100 mph.

When Deacon mentioned he knew a Casey as well, Teagan felt her stomach rebel. The reminder that she didn't actually know who Casey was, much less whether Casey was male or female, did not receive a warm welcome. Suddenly, the air in the small cafe seemed rather stuffy, even with Deacon still holding the door open for her.

Snap out of it! Coincedence, that's all. Teagan turned her attention back towards Deacon's apology for letting a choice word slip. Funny, she hadn't even heard it. "No harm, no foul." Teagan shrugged and gently smiled. Before she had a chance to fix the issue with Casey, a boy around her own age approached Deacon. Teagan raised an eyebrow with a pointed, confused, look towards Deacon as she answered the boy's blunt greeting.

"Teagan. And you are?"

[Casey]

Deacon chuckled as Art looked a Teagan, trying to figure her out. He was always trying figure people out when he met them. Scared off a few of Deacon’s dates. Boy could never just treat things like a normal person. Annoying but he thanked God for it every day, or most days.

“Nothin’ much,” he said pulling Art into a hug, “Dropped of the check and dropped her onto the ground on the way.”

There was a short exchange between him and Teagan. Art was about to answer when Deacon interrupted. He wrapped his right arm around Art and put his left on the girl’s shoulder.

“Little brother met chick I knocked over, Chick I knocked over, little brother,” He gave them both a gentle shake before letting go, “Why don’t you two entertain each other while I get the first aid kit, hm?”

Art straightened his glasses as his brother walked off. He held out a hand to Teagan, “Arthur, but most people tend to call me Art. Either one is fine.”

He moved back to the closest table and set his bag down. Looking over a Teagan, he gestured for her to take a seat. The stools were a little high so he had to hop. Hopefully she wouldn’t need help, Teagan was even more height challenged than he was.

“So what brings you to Key Stone?”

[Teagan]

#4) Your height, which was a challange to begin with, will become even more so.

Before the kid with glasses could answer her question, Deacon wrapped his arm around both of them. She tensed. Was it common in Keystone for strangers to embrace others so...openly? How odd. Hopefully, no one else in the town took up this interesting behavior.

Dean introduced the boy as his younger brother and gave them both a shake. If the man had a brother her age, chances were likely she couldn't find any safer company. Her mom used to say that if she ever got lost to look for a lady with children. No one else could be as trustworthy and guaranteed to help you. Although they were only siblings, she realized the age difference must have influenced both of their lives in some way. This didn't mean she could fully trust them though...but at least she had found a start. Teagan relaxed and allowed a small chuckle at Deacon's way of acquainting them.

"Hello, little brother," she kidded after Deacon excused himself to find the first-aid kit. "I'm Teagan."

Shaking his hand, she chose the abbreviated version, Art. Calling him Arthur would be too close to the days of studying Camelot a year ago. The class focused on the medieval ages, allowing everyone to role-play as a character. Her friend Alice played the farmer, Jeremy the Thane, and upon poor Teagan they shoved the position of "wench". Wench to the king, King Arthur, as the student's parents had aptly named him. The red-headed jerk insisted no one qualified more than he did for the position and then used his "power" to flirt with his crush.

"Art it is then."

(That would be Teagan.

...worst class project. Ever.)

She wondered if this Art was no different after he motioned for her to join him at a table with stools so high even he had to jump to get on them. Did he honestly expect her to join him?

From his continuous gestures, the runt was serious. Teagan knew she was short, but that didn't mean other people needed to rub it in her face. No brownie points for this smarty. Pretending to ignore her height deficiency, she gracefully hopped up and ran her fingers along the cool table. She would play along with this boy, Teagan decided. But the moment she had the chance, either the duct tape or spray paint in her pack would make an appearance.

"A friend asked for my help and, seeing as I had nothing better to do, I stopped by to check things out." Ha. Not going to make the mistake of mentioning Casey's name again.

[Casey]

The girl got up onto the stool without any help with a look of defiance. Wonder where that came from. Art pushed up his glasses again out of habit. Then he wondered why he was still wearing them, he only needed them for reading. Of course he was reading most of the time and was typically wearing them. As he pulled off Teagan told him she had come to Keystone to help a friend.

“That’s,” he paused and tapped the edge of his glasses to his lip, “really nice actually.”

He put his glasses in their case and slid him into his bag. She didn’t sound local, probably came just to help her friend.

“Ya sound like you’re not close to home. You staying with them or do you need a place?”

“Ah, that’s so cute,” Deacon said next to the table surprising Art, “Offerin’ a girl a room.”

“Shut up,” Art pushed his brother’s shoulder.

Deacon set the first aid kit on the table between the teens, “Keep dreaming. Now let’s have a look at that wound.”

[Teagan]

#5) Because some "smart" guy will come along and make you want to pray for the species.

Did she just hear him right? An offer for a place to stay?

Heck. Yes.

Her parents would kill her about now. But to look at the facts...Fact 1: She had just met Art and Deacon, oh, say, going on ten minutes ago. Fact 2: They were both guys. (Never a good scenario in her mother's perspective.) Fact 3: She had no other place to stay, unless she text Casey back and asked for help. With her luck, Casey would realize that he/she had sent the message to the wrong person. So...with both arguments evenly weighed, she had no other choice.

Now to answer without sounding too desperate.

Before she could open her mouth though, Deacon returned with a smart-alec reply. Ew. Ew. Ew. Sure she was 18, but she wasn't that old yet. In her professional opinion, anyways. Ew. Art's reaction proved he thought the same thing...or, something along the same general line. "For the record Deacon..." Teagan pointed to herself, "Single? Yes. Available? No."

Deacon continued his banter with Art as he gently examined Teagan's arm. "It's not that bad, right?"

[Casey]

Deacon just laughed again at Teagan. Kids these days, so easy to get riled up. He leaned forward and began looking at the cut. Definitely not life threatening but it could use a good cleaning. Opening the first aid kit he pulled out the anti-septic, bandages and tweezers. Before starting he used a hand wipe from the kit and cleaned his hands.

“Alright, let’s get a better view,” he carefully took a hold of her hand, “Art could you go grab some napkins?”

Art nodded and hopped out of his seat. He crossed the café and over to the counter with all the extras for people’s coffee. The napkins were the brown kind made out of recycled paper. Instead of getting a few, Art got a hand fill. Better to over kill than be sparse, especially with Deacon.

“Alright,” Deacon said picking up the tweezers, “You got a little rock in here.”
He pulled the rock out and dropped it on one of the napkins Art set on the table. The other ones he picked up and held under Teagan’s hand with his left. With his right he picked up the anti-septic.

“This may sting,” he said before pouring it over the wound. Any liquid that ran over was caught in the napkins. After he was done with the anti-septic Deacon patted the area dry. He opened a band-aid with one hand and his teeth and quickly put it on her hand.

“Savvy?” he asked picking up the trash. As his brother when to put everything away Art rolled his eyes. Sliding of his chair he picked his bag up of the table.

“Looks like we’re headin’ out soon. If you still want that room just follow us,” he slipped the bag over his shoulder, “Something tells me you might be getting a free room, for tonight at any rate.”

“Yep,” Deacon said as he came back to the table, “Have to walk though. Few blocks, then up a dirt path.”

He looked out the window. The rain bet against the window and down in the street. Wesson’s driveway was muddy by now. If Teagan was following he could only hope she wasn’t the type to freak out over getting dirty. Rain meant another problem.

“You wouldn’t happen to-,” He stopped as Art held up an umbrella. With a smile he said, “See this is why you’re the smart one.”

“Uh-huh,” Art said pulling up the hood of his jacket over his beanie, “Stop using that as you excuse.”

He turned to Teagan and held out the umbrella, “You’ll need this if you coming with us.”

[Teagan]

#6) You will find yourself in a "rocky" situation.

Art returned with a stack of napkins and Teagan suddenly wondered if Deacon planned on performing a full blown surgery. She watched as he chose the tweezers and carefully began to remove debris from her arm. A rock, pardon. "How the heck did that fit in my arm?"

Teagan winced as Deacon steadily poured the anti-septic over her arm. The smell of the liquid never enticed her. The...clean, hospital scent rubbed her the wrong way. Blinking her eyes twice to get the stench out of her mind, she turned away and caught the eye of the cashier. Clearly, someone did not approve of the patch job going on in her store. Whoops. Blood turned off most people from eating.

Crud. Chances were she could rule out the probability of getting her tea. Not when the guy was mad-dogging her like that. To Teagan's relief, the large man in front of her finished by placing a band-aid over the wound. Ha, normal one. Not like the one with numbers she got back at math camp. Ugh. Bad memories.

"Thanks." She gave him one of her million-dollar smiles. Reserved for either those she genuinely felt gracious to...or an adult when she was in trouble. As Deacon cleaned up the damp napkins -of which, were now tattered and completely useless- Art repeated his offer for the room.

"Well, since Casey hasn't made an appearence yet, I think I should take you up on that."

Yeah. Especially since there was a slim chance Casey would. As in, zilch.

"I have no problem walking," Teagan responded to Deacon's comment as he returned. Like the camps she had attended cared whether or not the campers were dry by the time they got to bed. Getting them to stay in the bunks was the main concern. And staying there. Teagan grabbed her pack and slung it over her shoulder. The hood of her jacket went back up after she inspected the work the elder brother completed. Not too shabby. Almost like he'd had tons of practice.

She turned as Art handed the umbrella over her way. It didn't take her long to figure out that there was one umbrella...and three of them. He'd give it up for her? How sweet.

Maybe Teagan could forget the height offense. This one time. "Thanks Art."

The crisp smell of the fresh rain pleasently danced around her as she and the brothers headed down the street.

[Casey]

Art smiled when Teagan took the umbrella. She seemed in a much better mood as they stepped out of the café. Deacon was already a few feet ahead, checking the streets for crazy tourists. He tipped back his head to try and caught rain drops on his tongue, blinking when on landed near his eye. A quick giggle before looking back at the side walk.

He waved for Teagan to follow, trying to keep a more reasonable pace for her than his brother, “It’s about four blocks to the edge of town, then a third of a mile up a dirt road. Well the road’s more like a hill. Hope that doesn’t cause any problems.”

Deacon was at the edge of the road when they caught up. The road was clear for the moment but that didn’t mean some idiot couldn’t come careening down the way. It was like people forgot to drive the second they crossed state boarders.

“Teagan, make sure you cross fast through the intersections,” he checked the streets one last time, “People going by are idiots and it’s rain. Double bad.”

He jogged across the way then waited for the kids. When they had crossed safely he speed up to the next crossing.

Art on the other hand was more interested in trying to get to know Teagan. Alright he was interested in why she was in the middle of nowhere trying to help a friend. That was strictly details though. The name Casey did, uh, increase his desire to know as well.

“Casey an out of towner too,” he asked, “You sound west coast, that were their from?”

“Seattle,” Deacon said flatly. Art looked up, surprised his brother heard the question.

“You’re from Seattle, Washington aren’t ya” He continued, “Am I right?” Deacon stopped at the end of the latest crosswalk and instead of waiting hung a left around the building,

“Almost there,” Art said for her benefit, “Just keep looking forward and you should see an old two story wooden building through the trees.”

[Teagan]

#7) You'll never know who has been stalking you since you left home.

Teagan didn't blink when Deacon charged ahead of her (she figured he was just that type of guy), but seeing Art try to catch a raindrop in his mouth stopped her in her tracks. Seriously? Did I just imagine that. Her respect for him doubled. Anyone who took a moment of their life to smell the roses and simply live scored high in her books. Most people sided with Deacon, and rushed to point B. Kudos, kid.

Teagan hurried to Art and they both caught up with Deacon, who warned her about traffic in the inclimate weather. "I can handle myself. It's like breathing for me." With a shrug, he jogged ahead. Rather...protective, was he? Or maybe paranoid was a better word.

Next to her, Art tried to initate another conversation. "Casey an out of towner too? You sound west coast, that where they're from?"

Paranoid. Mmhmm. Must run in the family.

Alright, so maybe Teagan was the paranoid one. It was technically a valid question anyone would ask...she hadn't told them much else. Certainly not about summer camp (or lack thereof). Deacon shocked both Art and Teagan when he nailed her hometown.

Bull's eye.

"Yeah, I am." She gave him a funny look. "For the record, it's not disturbing at all you know that." Stalkerish, might she add? They turned left and started up a winding dirt road.

"Almost there," Art supplied. She followed his instructions as they approached the wooden home, and glimpsed the lone building at the top of the hill. For some reason, she shivered as it drew near. What the heck? The two-story building looked sturdy and safe enough. And the forest was like a second home to her, especially in the rain. There was no reason it should unnerve her like this.

Before following the guys up the steps into the building, Teagan took tender care to scrape the mud clinging to her Converse on the grass. No need to give a bad impression...or ruin a good pair of shoes. She winced as the door squeaked upon entrance, and then took her first look inside the Wesson.

[Casey]

Okay it may have been cruel to freak Teagan out. It was funny to watch her reaction and that made it okay for him. Hey if she could handle the traffic, she could hadle a joke or two.

“Well, Art and I live in the middle of a tourist trap,” He said with fake professor tone, “We get people from every corner of the globe coming out here. So of them, shockingly, are from Seattle. If you pay attention I have a decade and a half on Art, thus he can only guess the coast. He be grasshopper, I Jedi master.”

He and Art finally climbed up on the porch when they made it up to the Wesson. They both watched Teagan whip off her shoes in the glass, that wasn’t the type of person that usually came to the bar. Unknowingly the brothers titled their heads and raised an eyebrow in unison. Deacon was the first to break the picture, turning around to unlock the door.

Inside Deacon saw Aiden sitting at the bar. That boy had a death wish or something. Not taking any chances, he jogged up to the bar, vaulted over and slid in front of Aiden.

“Hey ya, Kiddo,” he smiled, “Are you going to ruin my good mood today?”

Art watched Deacon run in and sighed, “Sorry, he’s… crazy at times.”

[Aiden]

There just wasn't something right here in Keystone. A mysterious call telling him to go to one of the lamest tourist attractions in the country, where apparently Jeff was called too as well, followed by telling a bartender that the supernatural world was real, killing a shifter, and now waiting for...what exactly? Jeff told Aiden they needed to wait around, but there was nothing worth waiting for. The bar was empty, in fact Deacon and his younger brother weren't even there. There was nothing to do there aside from a pool table tucked off to the side, and playing solo was never fun. He didn't need to bother with his books or his weapons, his car didn't need maintenence. He was just....there, and it was annoying the hell out of him. There were people back in Portland that needed protecting, yet here he was sitting on his ass.

In fact, that was exactly what he was doing; he was sitting at the bartop, listening to his iPod, zoning out. It was nice; for once Jeff wasn't bothering him, Deacon wasn't playing games with him, and he was finally at ease. He cycled through his songs, finding the ones to keep him in this zen-like state. He'd been in it for a while, he lost track of time, just staring out ahead of him, finger tapping silently along with the music, drowning out everything else. Finally, movement out of the corner of his eye broke the reverie, and Aiden frowned. So much for his good mood. Now it was back to Deacon spazzing for nothing. "Relax barman, I haven't touched anything. God," he said, clearly annoyed. "And who is this? Art's girlfriend?" A new person joined them, a girl, that Art was speaking to. She was obviously young, so she couldn't be a customer.