"Oh really?" she asked, her expression perking up.
Law. Now there was something that felt normal to be discussing, something that allowed a distraction from the oddness she'd been dealing with all day.
"Medical malpractice. Wrongful death, that sort of thing. I originally meant to go into criminal law, you know, be a Prosecuting Attorney, but I sort of ended up being recruited into a private practice. Kind of a family thing," she said with a shrug. "But I suppose nothing ever really works out as planned, does it?"
"I was gunning for criminal prosecution myself," Sam responded, eager to have somehing not bizarre to talk about. He had been prparing for law school. Until Jessica died and he realized pretending didn't make anything normal; he couldn't leave his old life behind.
"No. Things.. never work out the way you plan. May or may not be a bad thing." And then he added, "But I suppose you wound up liking medical malpractice?"
"We? You mean you and your brother?" she eyed him curiously. "Well, I know the feeling. Funny how life seems to get in the way, doesn't it?"
She looked around them. "So, you think he got lost out there?" she asked. After a second, she paused thoughtfully, still contemplating whether or not she should tell him about the streets. Finally, she decided that he had a right to know what he and his brother had ended up in.
"This place-it, well, the streets seem to change. I wandered around for a bit and almost got lost because the buildings seemed to keep moving around. Pretty bizarre actually."
"Yeah, me and my brother. And knowing him, he probably just got distracted by a pretty girl."
And then the rest of what she said registered. "I'm sorry did you just say the streets change?"
Everything she'd said about this place so far was beyond weird. Bordering on insane - which was probably why she commented about him thinking she was crazy. He had to admit, streets changing by themselves? Not something most sane people would be talking about.
But if she were right - which he wasn't sure about yet - that would explain why Dean was taking so long. His sense of direction was actually good - Sam just liked to tease him about getting lost.
Sam had taken a good number of psychology classes - they were a good foundation for law. He was by no means an expert in teh field but he was pretty sure he knew well enough to tell if someone was just... delusional. Maybe. Helena seemed... not crazy. Even if what she said made little sense.
"Is this city dangerous?" Sam asked, brow furrowed. Moving streets aside, Dean really had been gone too long.
Then again, not like Dean couldn't hold his own against almost anyone, or anything. but that didn't mean Sam wouldn't worry.
"All cities are dangerous," she answered him. "I know, not a real answer." she turned her palms up helplessly. "From what I've seen, this place is hiding something. And I doubt it's a happy secret."
He didn't seem to completely swallow her story, but she had to give the boy credit for not accusing her of being completely insane.
"If you wanted to look for him, I could go with you. Two heads are better than one, after all."
As if summoned by the discussion, Dean stepped in from the rain, cursing colorfully as he wiped water from his face adn hair. The rain was coming down heavier now and Dean was soaked, as were the two sacks of cold Chinese food he held clutched in one hand. Sam better appreciate all he'd gone through to bring him dinner. "Hope the room hasn't moved, too," he muttered as he started towards the hall.
Footsteps. Someone was coming around the corner. Her years of training had only heightened her senses.
Helena looked up just as someone turned the corner.
Immediately, her stomach did a lurch as she recognized the man from earlier. She realized just as quickly that she had been far too loose with information, both in costume and out.
She silently prayed for him to just pass by, and for Sam to give no indication that the two knew each other, but even as she did, she was hit with the sinking feeling that the two did, in fact, know each other.
Their reactions to certain things-the comment about Gotham and New York being the same city, for example-were too similar for it to be a coincidence.
And besides, she had seen far too much to believe in coincidences.
Sam's eyes widened just a bit at Dean's arrival. "Jesus, what happened to you?" He stepped away from Helena to relieve Dean of the bags of food. When he got closer he caught sight of a cut - brows knitted - no, that was bigger than a cute, he saw as he looked down at Dean. It was fresh, either still bleeding, or just finished. Or maybe the rain made it look that way. Either way Dean hadn't had it when he left.
"Dean what the hell happened?" His tone was serious now, now that he saw his brother was hurt.
Dean waved a dismissive hand at his brother's obvious worry. "It's nothing, Sammy. Just some dumbasses trying to start something they couldn't finish..." He trailed when he noticed the dark-haired girl standing nearby. His brows went up and the charm came on, an easy smile curving his lips. "You going to introduce me to your friend here?"
Sam rolled his eyes. Dean was more predictable that the sunrise. "Helena this is my brother Dean. Dean, this is Helena." He mistook her wide-eyed look for the one most girls got when they first saw Dean, and dismissed it. "So I guess we can call of the search party, huh?"
He'd let Dean's other comment go for now. It wasn't liek he didn't have things he should tell Dean about himself...
Turning back to Dean, she eyed the cut for a second. "That's a pretty nasty gash. Might want to get that looked at."
That said, she looked back to Sam. "I suppose I should get going, now that your brother's found you. It was nice to meet you both," she said with a small smile.
"Nice to meet you, too, Helena." He gently touched his wounded temple. "This? This is nothing. Just a scratch. I'll be fine." Dean glanced at Sam, giving him a winning, knowing smile before turning his attention back to Helena. "What's you're hurry? We've got plenty of Chinese to share, if you're hungry."
But Sam, unpredictably, actually wanted to talk to Dean. About what Helena had said about the City. And he was sure he didn't want her there while he questioned her sanity.
Her choice. Sam didn't expect her to say no. Girls rarely did when it was Dean doing the asking. Honestly he wouldn't mind really. She was pretty good compnay. And he could annoy the hell of out Dean talking law with her.
Sam glanced at Helena and raised a shoulder as if to ask, Dinner?
Well... she had been starving. And she had been intending to go for Chinese herself. This would at least save her the rouble of finding her way with the changing city streets.
"You know, that sounds pretty good right now. On one condition," she said with a mock-stern face. "I owe both of you lunch tomorrow, if you're still around here."
The two were definitely some of the friendliest people she'd met so far, after all. Save for the man who claimed to know an older version of herself, of course.
At any rate, it would be nice to not be completely alone for her first night in this City, wherever it was.
She'd said yes. Dean hid his surprise by smiling even more. "You've a got a deal." He nudged Sam in the side. "Let's get back to the room, then. I'm starving." He started to edge down the hall. "You didn't leave anything embarrassing out, did you, Sammy?" The words were casual, but the pointed look he gave Sam was anything but.
Sam led the way down the hall back to their room. A quick cursory glance told him what he'd suspected - everything was well hidden - the weapons, the random newspaper clippings, Dad's journal. Nothing odd was out in the open.
Good.
"Here we are." He held open the door for Helena. Dean had been surprised she took him up on his offer to joined them. Sam wasn't. Who in their right mind would say no? Then again there stillw as the question of whether or not Helena actually was in her right mind...
Sam offered her Dean's bed to sit on, simply because it was still made, unslept in. He reached for a carton. "Did this place have scallion pancakes?" Sam asked, as if this were the most normal setting in the world. He was good at pretending things were normal. He'd done it four years straight. "What'd you get anyway?"
"Thanks," Helena murmured to Sam as he held open the door for her and then offered her a bed. She sat gingerly on it, quietly observing the two brothers, trying to gauge from their interactions just how much they were hiding, and whether or not they could be trusted.
"Did you have a difficult time finding the place?" she asked Dean.
Dean was handing Sam the carton of scallion pancakes before he even finished asking for them. He knew they'd been gone in a matter of minutes, but no matter. Dean had gotten himself an order, too. "I got those and some dim sum--you like dim sum, Helena?--and I got a few eggs rolls and wonton soup. They threw in a couple of cans of soda, too."
He looked over at Helena as he peeled off his jacket and tossed it across the bacl of a chair. "Did I have a hard time finding the place? " His eyes strayed to Sam before returning to the dark-haired girl, a self-depreciating smile on his face. "You could say that."
Settling on Sam's bed, he used his shoulder to dab at the wound on his temple, then reached for the food. "Pass me an egg roll, Sammy."