Re: Perception (XO SPN, D/L, Mature) Ch 21 9/7
Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2013 11:33 pm
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HypnotiqBlueEyes,AvalonRose: Tess is trouble because she does feel like she's lost control of the situation.
Chapter Twenty One
*Lyrics (in italics) in this chapter belong to "How" by Lisa Loeb.*
The Crashdown was fairly quiet except for the radio playing softly from the kitchen pass through window as Liz moved around the restaurant double checking that everything was clean and put away for tomorrow’s morning shift. Her parents had gone away for the weekend and left their new general manager to hold down the fort but Liz had told him he could go home for the night and she would take care of closing. It was one of the times when she had been grateful that people knew how she was, she got things done and no one questioned it. Liz Parker was a perfectionist and when it came to the Crashdown, she had been trying to help things run smoother as young as middle school with color coded charts, schedules, and shift change protocol.
What they didn't know was Liz Parker loved the consistency and predictability that working in the restaurant gave her. She could control everything, knew every hiccup and snag and knew how to fix it. She loved coming back into a position where, to her anyway, there were no surprises, only easily dealt with curveballs and fixable problems. Unlike her life, the Crashdown was a piece of cake to successfully run. And tonight she was craving that control. She needed the quiet and the tasks to keep her mind occupied with the uncomplicated. She needed to feel like she wasn't a complete mess and could in fact keep a ship afloat.
Ava sat at the counter with Sam talking quietly while Dean, well she didn’t actually know where he was at the moment and that was probably for the best. Every time she thought about talking with him something would come up and maybe that was just fate. Maybe she really didn’t want to know why, maybe she didn’t want to hear that he didn’t think he could stay with her because he didn’t know when he’d be out on a hunt and wouldn’t be able to come home to her. That was one of the nicer reasons she had spinning in the tangled mess that was her mind at the moment. They’d been back two days and she’d been fighting with herself to stop avoiding him and she was losing that fight.
Liz came around behind the counter and stopped in front of Ava and Sam. “You guys want anything else? Want me to fill your glasses?”
Ava quirked her eyebrow, “We know how to work the soda fountain.”
Sam tried to hide the concerned look but it didn’t work when she knew him so well. Liz grinned, “just trying to be nice.”
Ava chuckled, “yeah sure.”
Liz moved along the counter checking that everything was in place underneath as Ava leaned towards Sam whispering something in his ear. Sam nodded then stood from the stool, “yeah Dean should be back soon. I’ll go wait for him by the door.” Sam walked over to the first booth and sat down facing the front door.
Ava got up and moved down the counter towards Liz. “So I’m guessing you and Dean didn’t settle anything then?”
Liz glanced up, “what?”
Ava watched her closely, not taking her sudden hearing loss personally. After a moment Ava raised her brows, “give it up girl. It’s me.”
Liz sighed and dropped her elbows on the counter and supported her head in her hands. “No. I’ve been trying.. well kind of trying but he’s been avoiding me and maybe I’ve been avoiding him. Then there’s these moments where he’s that guy I knew and it’s frustrating as all hell! How can I love and hate someone at the same time? Maybe it’s just not supposed to be fixed.”
Ava smirked, “I remember hearing something about someone you highly respected saying that soul mates are never easy. Something like that.”
“She said if it’s not complicated then he’s probably not your soul mate.”
“Exactly.”
Liz rolled her eyes, “she was talking about Max.”
“Was she? Or was she just talking from her own experience?”
Liz looked down at the counter. “It’s just a saying.”
“One that seems pretty relevant in your life.”
Liz straightened and dropped her hands dramatically to her sides. “Well, aren’t you just a ton of help.”
Ava grinned, “what? Don’t like hearing the truth?”
“I need to take out the trash.” Liz walked towards the back door and Ava watched her almost storm through it into the other room.
Ava sat there for a moment, thinking. Liz was too afraid to confront him, to get to the real reason. So afraid that she seemed blinded to the fact that she was terrified to ask him why. Ava turned towards Sam catching his gaze flick from the back door to her. Why was Liz so afraid to fix it? Would she really throw her own happiness out of the window because she was afraid of what he would say? Sam gave her a small smile and she felt her stomach flip. Just because things didn't work out before, just because love had failed before.. It didn't mean that if she were open to it that it wouldn't easily come back. That she wouldn't be able to feel like she was complete again. Yes, Liz had it happen twice in a relatively close period of time but could she really be that scared that she'd just give up?
Sam gave her a questioning look and she smiled as she walked over to the booth and slid into seat on the other side. "I don't think she's really tried to approach him."
~~
Liz pushed through the back door and went straight to the bathroom. She splashed water on her face and took a few deep calming breaths. She heard the music from the radio float through the kitchen and cringed. She looked into the mirror hearing the words that she knew by heart. A song she knew well because she used to love it but somehow right now.. it wasn’t what she wanted to hear.
"I didn't come this far for you to make this hard for me.
and now you want to ask me "how?" "
She had gotten so much better, had gotten over and the past the girl he had created. No, the girl she had become. She stopped reacting every time she heard his name, not that Sam seemed to think so but Sam always did have the uncanny ability to read her. Specially for someone who really hadn't known her that long.
"it's like - how does your heart beat, and why do you breathe?
how does your heart beat, and why do you breathe?"
She closed her eyes and felt the memory hit her like a whirlwind. They had slipped into this very bathroom because they couldn't wait to get upstairs to touch. He'd been gone for maybe three weeks and she'd felt like a starving child. The second the door shut behind them, they launched at each other. Lips crashed together as his hands slipped under the back of her shirt and she could still practically feel his calloused fingers as they gripped her sides lifting her from the floor just before she felt her back press against the wall. She felt the heat that spiraled throughout her body, the longing that made her ache for him when he was gone heightened now that he was within reach.
She snapped her eyes open and caught her heaving chest and fevered cheeks in the mirror.
"why did you come here?
you weren't invited.
and you're on the outside - stay on the outside."
Memories she had successfully buried just seemed to wake up from their winter slumber since he'd appeared back in her life. She had gotten everything put back together, she was functional again but then he swooped back into her life and that quickly she lost control. She hid it for longer than she thought but certain people had seen right through her act. How could it be that he still held that much influence over her? That he could so easily slip past her foundations and rock her very core. How was her heart still pushing her towards him?
"and now you want to ask me "why?"
it's like - why does your heart beat, and how do you cry?
how does your heart beat?
and there are some things that I’d like to figure out.
there are some things that I can do without -
like you and your letters that go on forever"
Everyone seemed to want her to get it straightened out except for Dean and herself. So why the hell were they pushing her? Dean wasn't coming to her volunteering the information so why would she want to push him? Why try to go back into something that was doomed from the start? Now if she could just get her heart to catch up with her brain and not quicken every time he looked her way, with every quirk of his lips, and clench of his jaw. If only her body didn’t betray her by aching for his touch every time he was near.. she might be able to make it through this until the time came for him to leave. That time would inevitably come and she wouldn't fall apart this time because she wouldn't fall for him this time. She was stronger this time.
~~
Ava and Sam both looked toward the door when they heard the bell and watched Dean walk inside. Ava cut Dean off before he could say a word. “Hey, could you help Liz with the trash? She’s in the back room.”
Dean glanced towards the back of the restaurant then looked at Sam who shrugged as Ava just smiled from her seat in the booth. “Okay.” He walked to the back room slowly opening the back door. He found Liz struggling to pull a trash bag out of the kitchen. He moved calmly over towards her, “need some help?”
Liz jumped at the voice and glanced back at him, “who sent you?”
Dean raised a brow, “someone needed to send me?”
“Whatever. Can you get this for me while I get the others?”
Dean nodded and let her pass as he easily lifted the bag from the snag in the door then carried it into the break room. He placed it down by the back door and moved to help her with the other bags. “You want me to get those too?”
“Are you saying I can’t carry a trash bag?”
Dean’s brow furrowed, “not if you don’t want to.”
“Oh right because I need a man to help me with everything I do?”
Dean felt his patience run thin, “what the hell has got your panties in a twist?”
“Screw you Winchester.” She lifted two of the bags and carried them to the back door.
“I really don’t see how you can be so mad at me!”
Liz shook her head as she opened the back door and propped a stool against the door to keep it open then grabbed the rock from the alley and wedged it against the door jam to stop the door just in case the stool didn’t hold. Dean lifted two of the bags and Liz went to grab the bag she left on the other side of the break room. “Of course you don’t.” She tried lifting the last bag and struggled. She quickly threw a glance at Dean and knew he saw her. She switched tactics and began to drag the bag over to the door.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” He tried lifting the heavy bag from her.
“Are you serious?” She glared at him.
He clenched his jaw, "yes." Without waiting for her permission, he grabbed the heavy bag and lifted it easily then took it through the back door and threw it in the dumpster. “You know you’re the one..”
She interrupted him from inside, her voice clear even in the alleyway as he made his way back to the door. “What? The one that left? Tell me Dean, who wouldn’t answer or return my calls and then changed their number? That was you! You self-righteous asshole!”
Dean came back into the break room, controlled anger visible on his face. “I didn’t think you really needed me since it seemed pretty clear that Kyle was fulfilling your needs.” Dean picked up another trash bag by the door.
“Wow really? You’re such an ass!” She grabbed the trash bag in front of her and yanked the other from Dean’s hands and stormed out the back door, kicking the chair that propped the door open on her way.
Dean’s muscles tightened as he watched the door almost close but catch on the rock in between the door and the jam. Instead of yelling to a basically closed door, he spun on his heel and walked stiffly towards the break room door and pushed it open. How the hell had that gotten so out of hand so fast? Things had seemed a little better since Ava got there but he’d just been thrown to the wolves. Damn Ava!
Sam raised his brow at the sight of his brother storming through the restaurant. “What was all the yelling about back there?”
Dean glanced at Ava and Sam still sitting together in the booth. He briefly wondered again if Ava set him up but didn’t see any humor in her face. “Nothing.” Dean continued through the front door of the Crashdown and dropped himself down on a bench out front. He scrubbed his face. What the hell just happened?
Sam and Ava stared at the front door and Sam whispered to Ava, “maybe that wasn’t such a good idea.”
Ava frowned, “I thought for sure if they got pushed enough that they would finally just go at each other and everything would come out. Apparently Liz is a lot more stubborn than I originally thought.”
Sam looked to the break room door, “you have no idea. Should we check on her?”
Ava shook her head, “nah, let both of them cool down.”
Twenty minutes later, Dean finally came back into the restaurant to find Ava and Sam had moved to the counter. He looked towards the break room door and heard Sam’s voice. “She hasn’t come out yet.”
Dean nodded. “Anyone check on her?”
Ava cracked a smile, “after those fireworks? Nah, I know my girl when she’s pissed. You give her time or you might get zapped.”
Dean raised a brow and Ava smiled, “you don’t want to know.”
Sam stood from the stool, “still someone should check on her.”
Dean sat next to Ava, “she probably went upstairs to the apartment so she wouldn’t have to see me again.”
Ava pushed a glass filled with soda towards him. He took a grateful sip but his eyes were trained on the break room door that Sam was walking through.
Sam walked into the break room seeing the door to the alley closed and a trash bag still left in front of it. He figured she went upstairs after the fight and walked up to the apartment and knocked on the door. When there was no answer, he tried the door. She probably thought it was Dean and didn’t want to come to the door. The door was unlocked and he walked in calling out, “Liz? It’s me. You okay?” He walked into the living room then went to her bedroom. The door sat open and there was no sign of Liz. He glanced at the bathroom, that door stood open too. He made his way back towards the living room, “Liz? It’s Sam. Where are you?”
The apartment was quiet and Sam suddenly felt a shiver run up his spine. He moved out of the apartment and jogged down the stairs, “Ava!” His eyes scanned the break room again. Where would she go? Ava and Dean came through the break room door and looked to Sam who walked towards them. “She’s not upstairs, the apartment’s empty.”
Dean moved towards the back door, “are you sure? Did you check her balcony? She might have climbed up the fire escape from the alley.” He grabbed the trash bag and opened the door then carried it out into the alley before he froze. Ava propped the chair against the door to hold it open and caught Dean’s frozen figure.
“What is it?”
Sam came behind Ava looking over her head at Dean. Then his eyes fell to what Dean was looking at on the ground. “Dean?”
Dean dropped the bag in his hand and ran down the alley way towards the front of the restaurant while Ava and Sam called after him. Sam moved around Ava and came outside as Dean ran past him down the other side of the alley. “Dean, what the hell?!”
Dean jogged back to them and pointed to the two bags broken open on the ground inches from the dumpster. “Liz was taking those outside when I went through the restaurant. I know because I took the first trash bag out and that wasn’t there.”
Ava’s eyes widened. “Shit.” She turned to Sam, “you’re sure she wasn’t upstairs?”
Sam nodded, “yes. I called out to her and checked the bedroom. What is it?”
Ava moved back into the break room and pulled out her phone as Sam and Dean followed behind her. Dean raised his voice, “what the hell is going on Ava?”
“Lonnie and Rath. It’s got to be. They must be in Roswell and they want to go home.”
Sam’s brow furrowed, “what does that have to do with Liz?”
Ava hit the speed dial and looked at Sam and Dean, “everything.”
Dean looked Ava in the eye, “what the hell does that mean?”
Ava heard a voice talking from her phone and lifted it to her ear as she spoke. “Izzy, something happened. Liz is gone.”
HypnotiqBlueEyes,AvalonRose: Tess is trouble because she does feel like she's lost control of the situation.
Chapter Twenty One
*Lyrics (in italics) in this chapter belong to "How" by Lisa Loeb.*
The Crashdown was fairly quiet except for the radio playing softly from the kitchen pass through window as Liz moved around the restaurant double checking that everything was clean and put away for tomorrow’s morning shift. Her parents had gone away for the weekend and left their new general manager to hold down the fort but Liz had told him he could go home for the night and she would take care of closing. It was one of the times when she had been grateful that people knew how she was, she got things done and no one questioned it. Liz Parker was a perfectionist and when it came to the Crashdown, she had been trying to help things run smoother as young as middle school with color coded charts, schedules, and shift change protocol.
What they didn't know was Liz Parker loved the consistency and predictability that working in the restaurant gave her. She could control everything, knew every hiccup and snag and knew how to fix it. She loved coming back into a position where, to her anyway, there were no surprises, only easily dealt with curveballs and fixable problems. Unlike her life, the Crashdown was a piece of cake to successfully run. And tonight she was craving that control. She needed the quiet and the tasks to keep her mind occupied with the uncomplicated. She needed to feel like she wasn't a complete mess and could in fact keep a ship afloat.
Ava sat at the counter with Sam talking quietly while Dean, well she didn’t actually know where he was at the moment and that was probably for the best. Every time she thought about talking with him something would come up and maybe that was just fate. Maybe she really didn’t want to know why, maybe she didn’t want to hear that he didn’t think he could stay with her because he didn’t know when he’d be out on a hunt and wouldn’t be able to come home to her. That was one of the nicer reasons she had spinning in the tangled mess that was her mind at the moment. They’d been back two days and she’d been fighting with herself to stop avoiding him and she was losing that fight.
Liz came around behind the counter and stopped in front of Ava and Sam. “You guys want anything else? Want me to fill your glasses?”
Ava quirked her eyebrow, “We know how to work the soda fountain.”
Sam tried to hide the concerned look but it didn’t work when she knew him so well. Liz grinned, “just trying to be nice.”
Ava chuckled, “yeah sure.”
Liz moved along the counter checking that everything was in place underneath as Ava leaned towards Sam whispering something in his ear. Sam nodded then stood from the stool, “yeah Dean should be back soon. I’ll go wait for him by the door.” Sam walked over to the first booth and sat down facing the front door.
Ava got up and moved down the counter towards Liz. “So I’m guessing you and Dean didn’t settle anything then?”
Liz glanced up, “what?”
Ava watched her closely, not taking her sudden hearing loss personally. After a moment Ava raised her brows, “give it up girl. It’s me.”
Liz sighed and dropped her elbows on the counter and supported her head in her hands. “No. I’ve been trying.. well kind of trying but he’s been avoiding me and maybe I’ve been avoiding him. Then there’s these moments where he’s that guy I knew and it’s frustrating as all hell! How can I love and hate someone at the same time? Maybe it’s just not supposed to be fixed.”
Ava smirked, “I remember hearing something about someone you highly respected saying that soul mates are never easy. Something like that.”
“She said if it’s not complicated then he’s probably not your soul mate.”
“Exactly.”
Liz rolled her eyes, “she was talking about Max.”
“Was she? Or was she just talking from her own experience?”
Liz looked down at the counter. “It’s just a saying.”
“One that seems pretty relevant in your life.”
Liz straightened and dropped her hands dramatically to her sides. “Well, aren’t you just a ton of help.”
Ava grinned, “what? Don’t like hearing the truth?”
“I need to take out the trash.” Liz walked towards the back door and Ava watched her almost storm through it into the other room.
Ava sat there for a moment, thinking. Liz was too afraid to confront him, to get to the real reason. So afraid that she seemed blinded to the fact that she was terrified to ask him why. Ava turned towards Sam catching his gaze flick from the back door to her. Why was Liz so afraid to fix it? Would she really throw her own happiness out of the window because she was afraid of what he would say? Sam gave her a small smile and she felt her stomach flip. Just because things didn't work out before, just because love had failed before.. It didn't mean that if she were open to it that it wouldn't easily come back. That she wouldn't be able to feel like she was complete again. Yes, Liz had it happen twice in a relatively close period of time but could she really be that scared that she'd just give up?
Sam gave her a questioning look and she smiled as she walked over to the booth and slid into seat on the other side. "I don't think she's really tried to approach him."
~~
Liz pushed through the back door and went straight to the bathroom. She splashed water on her face and took a few deep calming breaths. She heard the music from the radio float through the kitchen and cringed. She looked into the mirror hearing the words that she knew by heart. A song she knew well because she used to love it but somehow right now.. it wasn’t what she wanted to hear.
"I didn't come this far for you to make this hard for me.
and now you want to ask me "how?" "
She had gotten so much better, had gotten over and the past the girl he had created. No, the girl she had become. She stopped reacting every time she heard his name, not that Sam seemed to think so but Sam always did have the uncanny ability to read her. Specially for someone who really hadn't known her that long.
"it's like - how does your heart beat, and why do you breathe?
how does your heart beat, and why do you breathe?"
She closed her eyes and felt the memory hit her like a whirlwind. They had slipped into this very bathroom because they couldn't wait to get upstairs to touch. He'd been gone for maybe three weeks and she'd felt like a starving child. The second the door shut behind them, they launched at each other. Lips crashed together as his hands slipped under the back of her shirt and she could still practically feel his calloused fingers as they gripped her sides lifting her from the floor just before she felt her back press against the wall. She felt the heat that spiraled throughout her body, the longing that made her ache for him when he was gone heightened now that he was within reach.
She snapped her eyes open and caught her heaving chest and fevered cheeks in the mirror.
"why did you come here?
you weren't invited.
and you're on the outside - stay on the outside."
Memories she had successfully buried just seemed to wake up from their winter slumber since he'd appeared back in her life. She had gotten everything put back together, she was functional again but then he swooped back into her life and that quickly she lost control. She hid it for longer than she thought but certain people had seen right through her act. How could it be that he still held that much influence over her? That he could so easily slip past her foundations and rock her very core. How was her heart still pushing her towards him?
"and now you want to ask me "why?"
it's like - why does your heart beat, and how do you cry?
how does your heart beat?
and there are some things that I’d like to figure out.
there are some things that I can do without -
like you and your letters that go on forever"
Everyone seemed to want her to get it straightened out except for Dean and herself. So why the hell were they pushing her? Dean wasn't coming to her volunteering the information so why would she want to push him? Why try to go back into something that was doomed from the start? Now if she could just get her heart to catch up with her brain and not quicken every time he looked her way, with every quirk of his lips, and clench of his jaw. If only her body didn’t betray her by aching for his touch every time he was near.. she might be able to make it through this until the time came for him to leave. That time would inevitably come and she wouldn't fall apart this time because she wouldn't fall for him this time. She was stronger this time.
~~
Ava and Sam both looked toward the door when they heard the bell and watched Dean walk inside. Ava cut Dean off before he could say a word. “Hey, could you help Liz with the trash? She’s in the back room.”
Dean glanced towards the back of the restaurant then looked at Sam who shrugged as Ava just smiled from her seat in the booth. “Okay.” He walked to the back room slowly opening the back door. He found Liz struggling to pull a trash bag out of the kitchen. He moved calmly over towards her, “need some help?”
Liz jumped at the voice and glanced back at him, “who sent you?”
Dean raised a brow, “someone needed to send me?”
“Whatever. Can you get this for me while I get the others?”
Dean nodded and let her pass as he easily lifted the bag from the snag in the door then carried it into the break room. He placed it down by the back door and moved to help her with the other bags. “You want me to get those too?”
“Are you saying I can’t carry a trash bag?”
Dean’s brow furrowed, “not if you don’t want to.”
“Oh right because I need a man to help me with everything I do?”
Dean felt his patience run thin, “what the hell has got your panties in a twist?”
“Screw you Winchester.” She lifted two of the bags and carried them to the back door.
“I really don’t see how you can be so mad at me!”
Liz shook her head as she opened the back door and propped a stool against the door to keep it open then grabbed the rock from the alley and wedged it against the door jam to stop the door just in case the stool didn’t hold. Dean lifted two of the bags and Liz went to grab the bag she left on the other side of the break room. “Of course you don’t.” She tried lifting the last bag and struggled. She quickly threw a glance at Dean and knew he saw her. She switched tactics and began to drag the bag over to the door.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” He tried lifting the heavy bag from her.
“Are you serious?” She glared at him.
He clenched his jaw, "yes." Without waiting for her permission, he grabbed the heavy bag and lifted it easily then took it through the back door and threw it in the dumpster. “You know you’re the one..”
She interrupted him from inside, her voice clear even in the alleyway as he made his way back to the door. “What? The one that left? Tell me Dean, who wouldn’t answer or return my calls and then changed their number? That was you! You self-righteous asshole!”
Dean came back into the break room, controlled anger visible on his face. “I didn’t think you really needed me since it seemed pretty clear that Kyle was fulfilling your needs.” Dean picked up another trash bag by the door.
“Wow really? You’re such an ass!” She grabbed the trash bag in front of her and yanked the other from Dean’s hands and stormed out the back door, kicking the chair that propped the door open on her way.
Dean’s muscles tightened as he watched the door almost close but catch on the rock in between the door and the jam. Instead of yelling to a basically closed door, he spun on his heel and walked stiffly towards the break room door and pushed it open. How the hell had that gotten so out of hand so fast? Things had seemed a little better since Ava got there but he’d just been thrown to the wolves. Damn Ava!
Sam raised his brow at the sight of his brother storming through the restaurant. “What was all the yelling about back there?”
Dean glanced at Ava and Sam still sitting together in the booth. He briefly wondered again if Ava set him up but didn’t see any humor in her face. “Nothing.” Dean continued through the front door of the Crashdown and dropped himself down on a bench out front. He scrubbed his face. What the hell just happened?
Sam and Ava stared at the front door and Sam whispered to Ava, “maybe that wasn’t such a good idea.”
Ava frowned, “I thought for sure if they got pushed enough that they would finally just go at each other and everything would come out. Apparently Liz is a lot more stubborn than I originally thought.”
Sam looked to the break room door, “you have no idea. Should we check on her?”
Ava shook her head, “nah, let both of them cool down.”
Twenty minutes later, Dean finally came back into the restaurant to find Ava and Sam had moved to the counter. He looked towards the break room door and heard Sam’s voice. “She hasn’t come out yet.”
Dean nodded. “Anyone check on her?”
Ava cracked a smile, “after those fireworks? Nah, I know my girl when she’s pissed. You give her time or you might get zapped.”
Dean raised a brow and Ava smiled, “you don’t want to know.”
Sam stood from the stool, “still someone should check on her.”
Dean sat next to Ava, “she probably went upstairs to the apartment so she wouldn’t have to see me again.”
Ava pushed a glass filled with soda towards him. He took a grateful sip but his eyes were trained on the break room door that Sam was walking through.
Sam walked into the break room seeing the door to the alley closed and a trash bag still left in front of it. He figured she went upstairs after the fight and walked up to the apartment and knocked on the door. When there was no answer, he tried the door. She probably thought it was Dean and didn’t want to come to the door. The door was unlocked and he walked in calling out, “Liz? It’s me. You okay?” He walked into the living room then went to her bedroom. The door sat open and there was no sign of Liz. He glanced at the bathroom, that door stood open too. He made his way back towards the living room, “Liz? It’s Sam. Where are you?”
The apartment was quiet and Sam suddenly felt a shiver run up his spine. He moved out of the apartment and jogged down the stairs, “Ava!” His eyes scanned the break room again. Where would she go? Ava and Dean came through the break room door and looked to Sam who walked towards them. “She’s not upstairs, the apartment’s empty.”
Dean moved towards the back door, “are you sure? Did you check her balcony? She might have climbed up the fire escape from the alley.” He grabbed the trash bag and opened the door then carried it out into the alley before he froze. Ava propped the chair against the door to hold it open and caught Dean’s frozen figure.
“What is it?”
Sam came behind Ava looking over her head at Dean. Then his eyes fell to what Dean was looking at on the ground. “Dean?”
Dean dropped the bag in his hand and ran down the alley way towards the front of the restaurant while Ava and Sam called after him. Sam moved around Ava and came outside as Dean ran past him down the other side of the alley. “Dean, what the hell?!”
Dean jogged back to them and pointed to the two bags broken open on the ground inches from the dumpster. “Liz was taking those outside when I went through the restaurant. I know because I took the first trash bag out and that wasn’t there.”
Ava’s eyes widened. “Shit.” She turned to Sam, “you’re sure she wasn’t upstairs?”
Sam nodded, “yes. I called out to her and checked the bedroom. What is it?”
Ava moved back into the break room and pulled out her phone as Sam and Dean followed behind her. Dean raised his voice, “what the hell is going on Ava?”
“Lonnie and Rath. It’s got to be. They must be in Roswell and they want to go home.”
Sam’s brow furrowed, “what does that have to do with Liz?”
Ava hit the speed dial and looked at Sam and Dean, “everything.”
Dean looked Ava in the eye, “what the hell does that mean?”
Ava heard a voice talking from her phone and lifted it to her ear as she spoke. “Izzy, something happened. Liz is gone.”