SPN/SV Fic Series: Highway From Hell: Fic 1: Welcome to the Planet (1/2)

[xtremeroswellia]

Series: Highway From Hell
Fic 1: Welcome to the Planet
Authors: Xtremeroswellian and Did_It_Once
Rated: PG-13
Spoilers: “No Rest for the Wicked" for Supernatural. Nothing terribly spoilery from Smallville if you watched any of sixth or seventh season.
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don’t sue.
Characters: Chloe, Dean, Sam, Bart, Oliver.
Pairing: None yet. Eventual Chlean. Of course. :P
Wordcount: 6087



Welcome to the Planet (Part One)

Sam Winchester sat stretched out in the passenger seat of the Impala, glancing over at his older brother as they headed toward Decatur, Illinois. "There's a lot of rumors about this town."

Dean raised his eyebrows. "Like?"

"Well, according to various legends, half the town was built right on top of a Native American cemetery."

"Please tell me we're not going to try to break another curse," he groaned.

He chuckled a little and looked out the windshield. "No. Poltergeist, remember?"

He shook his head. "Right."

"Current owner of the house is...Chloe Queen. Only lived there a few weeks." He glanced down at the file in his hands.

"And in those few weeks she's already noticed it?"

"Apparently it's gotten progressively more active over the years. The last owner only lived there six months and barely got out alive."

"Huh. Wow."

"So something's really pissed it off."

"Apparently."

Sam slid his gaze over to Dean, taking note of the disinterest in his tone and his expression.

He glanced over at his brother. "So where is this house again?"

He looked down at the driving directions he'd printed at the last library where they'd stopped. "Keep heading South until Wood Street. Then make a left on Union. It's the second house on the right."

He nodded turned onto the instructed streets and pulled up to a large house. Whistling, he cut the engine and exited the car. "Nice size."

Sam raised his eyebrows, wondering if this Chloe Queen was independently wealthy. He glanced around the street, taking note of a tall woman with a ponytail eyed them suspiciously as she carried a bag toward the building she was heading into. He offered her a nod and a smile, and watched as she disappeared into the building. His gaze shifted to the left and he winced a bit at the sign in front of the place. Dove, Inc. Domestic Violence shelter.

Dean nudged him, taking no notice of the building. "Come on."

Nodding, Sam followed him up the porch steps and to the front door, more than happy to let Dean take the lead.

Squaring his shoulders, Dean knocked and waited for an answer.

A moment later, a petite blonde woman opened the door. She couldn't have been more than twenty-five or twenty-six, and her green eyes appraised both of them cautiously. "Can I help you?"

"We're local surveyors looking for residential disturbances. We heard that this place was one for a lot of disturbances," he held his hand out. "I'm Chad Kroeger, this is my partner Ryan Peake."

For a moment, Sam could have sworn he saw a flash of amusement in the woman's eyes as she held her hand out to Dean and shook it. "Chloe Queen."

"So have there been any recent mishaps here?"

She hesitated a moment. "Define mishaps."

He shrugged. "Flickering lights, weird scratching noises...things falling unexpectedly."

Sam watched her intently as she shifted her gaze to him, giving him an uneasy smile.

He offered her a small, warm smile in return, hoping to calm her nerves. "We're just here to help."

Chloe drew in a breath. "Yeah. All of the above."

Dean nodded. "Has it seemed like your house has been out to kill you?"

Sam whipped his head over to look at him with horror.

He ignored Sam and waited for an answer.

She gazed at Dean a moment, then nodded slowly. "I've been trying to find someone to help me with this, but..."

"Don't worry about it. We can help."

She stepped back, holding the door open to let them in.

Stepping in, he waited for his brother before looking around. "Where does most of the activity take place?"

"The master bedroom." She bit her lip, tucking some blonde hair behind her ear.

"You might want to get out of the house," he advised.

"I'd rather stay," she said quietly, looking determined.

"This could get dangerous."

Sam couldn't believe they were standing there having this conversation with a woman they'd just met. "He's right."

"Go get the duffle," Dean instructed him, glancing up briefly.

He looked at his brother hesitantly.

"Go."

Drawing in a breath, he headed out to the car once more. He sure hoped Dean knew what he was doing.

* * *

Chloe kept her gaze fixed on 'Chad's' face, studying him intently. "What are you thinking it is? Evil spirit? Poltergeist?"

He shrugged. "More poltergeist than anything."

She nodded slightly.

He finally looked at her. "How'd you figure it'd be something like that?"

She met his eyes. "I've always been interested in the supernatural. Done a lot of reading."

"Reading."

"Well, when things start flying at my head and I'm the only person in the room...it tends to make me curious," she said wryly.

He smiled slightly. "I still want you to be out of here."

"I appreciate the concern," she said sincerely. "But I'd really like to stay. I'll keep out of the way."

He shook his head. "I'm not going to risk that."

Annoyance tugged at her but she did her best to suppress it. "I've been living here for weeks. I think I can handle whatever's about to go down."

Sam appeared at the door again at that moment, duffle bag in his hand.

Folding his arms, he stood firm. "You're leaving. Things are going to get bad in here."

It took everything in her not to scowl at him. "All right. How do you long think this will take?"

"Come back in an hour."

She arched an eyebrow. "An hour? That's it?" She looked between them.

He nodded. "That's it."

Chloe drew in a breath and picked her purse up off the kitchen table. "All right. I'll be back." She bit her lip as she headed out the door and off the porch, not looking back. She removed the ear bud from her purse and placed it in her ear. "All right, they're here," she muttered. "Let the show begin."

* * *

When Chloe left, Dean took the bag from Sam and began to rummage through it. "Did you get all the sacks ready?"

"Yeah, that's why it took me so long." He drew in a breath and pulled two of them from the duffle. He looked around the large kitchen.

Pulling out the other two, Dean followed his gaze. "You take north and west, I'll take south and east?"

"Be careful," he warned, heading toward the living room.

"You too."

Nodding, Sam disappeared.

Dean grabbed his sawed-off from the duffle as well, then walked in the other direction, tense and waiting for the poltergeist to make its presence known.

* * *

Chloe sat in her car across the street in the First Lutheran Church's parking lot, leaning back in her seat and keeping her eyes locked on her laptop's screen. She watched on a split screen as the two men separated and moved to different parts of the house, the older one heading up the stairs toward the master bedroom. She pressed her ear bud a little closer. "You getting this, Arrow?"

In New York, Oliver Queen stared intently at his own screens. "Feed is coming through crystal clear, Watchtower. Good job.'

She nodded slightly, flickering her gaze to the younger of the two men and watching as he pulled a crowbar from the bag. She raised her eyebrows a little, curious.

Queen leaned forward and studied him intently. "I didn't think demon hunters needed crowbars."

Chloe didn't respond, watching with interest as Sam swung the weapon and made a small hole in the wall near the bottom, then dropped a little bag inside the hole. "Huh."

"Interesting," he murmured.

No sooner had the word left his mouth, then all hell broke loose.

* * *

Sam ducked just in time as a lamp flew at his head, shattering on the wall above him. "Crap."

Dean spun on his heel after dropping his own bag and hearing the crash. "Sam?"

"I'm all right, just hurry!" he shouted, moving quickly toward the opposite end of the house.

At that confirmation, he sprinted through the house dodging various flying objects aimed at his head. Finally reaching his end of the house, he quickly put a hole in the wall and all but threw the bag in.

Sam did the same seconds later and the things that were floating mid-air crashed to the floor loudly, shattering to pieces.

Once everything had settled, Dean called out. "You okay dude?"

He raked a hand through his shaggy hair, grimacing as flakes of glass stuck to his hand. He quickly wiped it on his jeans. "Yeah, I'm good. You all right?"

"Yeah. Fine."

He looked around at the mess surrounding him on the floor. "Damn."

* * *

Chloe sat back in her seat, faint smile on her face. "Well?"

Oliver folded his arms. "Impressive. Quick and efficient."

"Does that mean I'm moving onto phase two?"

He grinned. "Phase two is a go."

"Wish me luck."

"You won't need it, Watchtower."

A faint smile touched her lips. "I'll be in touch." She pulled the ear bud from her ear and tucked it back into her purse, sitting and waiting for a little while before heading up to the house once more. She was more than a little surprised to find the younger man disposing of the broken glass into the trash can.

Dean jumped when she opened the door. "Hey...sorry about the mess."

"Poltergeist is gone?" She raised her eyebrows.

He nodded. "All taken care of."

Chloe smiled, though a little nervousness tugged at her as she looked between them. "Wow, that's impressive. Let me take you guys out to eat."

"Er, no thanks. We're good," Dean said quickly.

"Please?" Her voice was soft, hopeful. "There's a little diner just a few blocks from here that has *the* best hamburgers within three hundred miles. My treat."

He looked at her suspiciously. "We've eaten already."

Her smile slipped and she looked down at the floor. "Oh."

Sam gave his brother a look. "We'd be glad to join you for a bite."

"Really?" She looked at him with surprise.

He nodded. "Ignore Chad. He's in a bit of a mood."

"Well, angry poltergeists trying to kill you will do that." She smiled at him.

He gave a half smile. "Yeah."

"Let me just...go change clothes and I'll be back down." She headed toward the stairs.

"I can't believe you just did that," Dean growled.

"Relax," Sam murmured, watching her go.

"We don't even know her, Sam!"

He gave his brother a look. "Since when do you turn down offers from pretty blondes?"

He opened his mouth to respond, then shut it again, realizing that he couldn't answer him.

"It'll be fine. It's just lunch. And she seems lonely."

"Whatever," he mumbled.

Chloe returned a few moments later, wearing a pair of black slacks and a pretty button-down green blouse that matched her eyes.

Dean gave her a once-over, before turning and walking out the door. "Lead the way."

* * *

Thirty minutes later, the three of them were seated in a booth at Culver's, the two men across from her. She ordered a coffee for her and told them to get whatever they wanted. She couldn't actually afford to buy extravagant lunches, but when she was on assignment, she was reimbursed for everything--meals included. She watched as they looked over the menus, finding herself intrigued by the pair.

Dean was the first to put his menu down. "I think I'll just have coffee."

Chloe offered him a small smile and waited for Sam, taking note of the suspicious way 'Chad' was staring at her.

Sighing, Sam put his menu down. "Coffee's good for me too."

The waitress returned moments later with three cups of coffee, then disappeared once more. Chloe watched her go, then forced herself to take a deep breath, wrapping her hands around the warm mug. "I have something to tell you." There was a hint of hesitance in her voice.

Dean tensed at her words, but stayed quiet.

"My name isn't Chloe Queen," she confessed, watching the confusion flicker over Sam's expression.

"Okay, then what is it?" Dean folded his arms.

"Chloe Sullivan," she answered, meeting his eyes for a moment.

Sam's eyebrows furrowed a little. "Why do I know that name?"

"Newspaper editor," Dean responded.

It was her turn to be surprised. "Well, not exactly, but--"

He shook his head. "Then you know who we really are."

She nodded a little, taking a sip of her coffee. "I know that you're not the lead singer of Nickelback," she said with a tiny smile.

He smirked. "So you know your music."

Chloe shrugged. "Not really the point."

"What...is the point?" Sam asked uncertainly, glancing sideways at Dean.

"That's what I'd like to know."

She was quiet for a moment, then she set her mug down on the table and leaned forward a little. "I was sent here to see how the two of you operate. To see if--"

Dean's hand shot to the gun he always carried with him. "How we operate? What? So you could kill us?"

She quickly sat back once more, her eyes wide. "What? No! Of course not."

"You're lying," his voice was low.

"I wasn't sent here to kill you," she said, shaking her head in disbelief and lowering her voice. "I was sent here to *recruit* you."

"Sam, we're leaving. Now."

Sam looked at her in confusion, then at him, shaking his head just a little. "Recruit us for what exactly?"

"That's what I've been trying to explain. Five minutes. That's all I ask. Please." Her voice was soft.

Dean sat back. "Five minutes."

She relaxed a little, nodding. "I work for...a group of individuals that are interested in having you join them because of your skills. The hunting evil, killing demons, getting rid of poltergeists skills."

"I thought you worked for a newspaper." Sam's eyebrows furrowed even more.

"I do. But that's just my day job," she said quietly.

"Okay, and who exactly are the group of individuals you work for?"

She shifted her gaze to Dean. "Have you heard of the Justice League of America?"

"Sort of. League of supposed superheroes, right?"

Chloe nodded slightly.

He raised an eyebrow. "You *work* for them?"

"I do," she admitted.

He was still skeptical. "And they want us on their team."

A faint smile touched her lips. "Yeah. See, the JLA has a good team, but...we want all our bases covered. And frankly, no one knows much about the more...uh, paranormal side of things. Which is where you come in."

"You know there are other hunters that would be better for the job."

"Not from the research I've done," she said quietly.

He shook his head. "You should look harder then."

"I have." She leaned forward a little. "I've been looking into this for almost two years now."

"Well, at least you know how to research."

Her lips drew into a thin line. She was getting tired of his attitude. "I'm very good at my job. Both of them," she said tensely.

"Dean." Sam nudged him a little, frowning.

He narrowed his eyes. "Good for you."

Chloe forced herself to take a deep breath. She reached into her purse and pulled out a couple of business cards. "Here." She slid them across the table. "Think about it. Give me a call." She put some money on the table. "My five minutes are up." She rose to her feet.

Dean pushed them toward his brother. "Here you go Sam."

"Dude, stop," he said, shaking his head and looking up at Chloe. "Look--"

"Sam. Just...think about it," she said quietly. Without waiting for a response, she headed away without looking back.

"Let’s go," Dean grumbled.

Sam rose to his feet slowly, picking up the cards off the table, then heading for the exit as he tucked them into his pocket.

Dean stood after him, sliding his hands into his pockets and looking around the diner.

"That was weird," he murmured, leading the way out to the Impala.

"Very."

He glanced at his brother as he climbed into the passenger seat.

Dean climbed in as well. "I think it's time to do some research."

"On the Justice League?"

"And on Chloe."

Sam drew in a breath, feeling a little uneasy. "Yeah, you're probably right. But my gut tells me she's on the up and up."

"I ain't gonna trust a gut instinct this time."

The tone of Dean's voice made him a little more uneasy and he looked at him sideways. "Right, okay. We'll research, see what we can come up with."

Nodding, he turned the car on and sped away, off to the nearest library.