Chapter 1 - "Skin"
(Season 1, Episode 6)
The sound of the cellular device's notification tone drew green eyes to the small screen of the PalmOne device that Sam Winchester had held onto for several miles. Adept fingers pulled the stylus from its holder and he tapped away at the little screen. Dean's choice of rock music blared from the Impala's radio and drowned out the rumbling of the vehicle that slowed down. Sam looked through the notifications. He tapped twice more to pull up an email, Sam read it over as the music stopped and the Impala's engine turned off. Dean pulled the keys from the ignition.
"Alright, I figured we'd hit Tucumcari by lunch. Then, head south and hit Bisbee by midnight," Dean informed his brother. He waited for a response, but received none in return, Dean glanced over to his brother and continued cheekily, "And Sam wears women's underwear." "I've been listening," Sam mumbled, "Just busy." "Busy doin' what?" Dean asked as he pushed the driver's door open with a creak. Sam's reply about reading emails was lost over Dean's door being slammed. "Emails from who?" Dean asked, wrinkling his brows a little as he circled the car toward the pump and eyed the $2.65 per gallon price with a scowl. "From my friends," Sam replied, finally looking up through the partially opened window and found his brother, "At Stanford."
"You're kidding. You still keep in touch with your college buddies?" Dean lifted the nozzle, selected the lowest grade of fuel, and inserted the nozzle into the tank at the back of the vehicle. "Why not?" Sam asked. Dean shrugged, "Well, what exactly do you tell'em? Y'know. About where you've been? What you've been doing?" Dean flipped the switch on the handle of the nozzle to let the gas fill up the tank on its own. He then walked over to Sam's side of the car and leaned against the passenger door. His green eyes looked to Sammy quizzically. "I tell'em I'm on a road trip with my big brother. I tell'em that I needed some time off after Jess," Sam replied as he turned his head to look at Dean. "Oh. So, you lie to'em," Dean responded. "No. I just don't tell'em… Everything," Sam said defensively. Dean chuckled, "Yeah… That's called 'lying.' I mean. Hey, man. I get it. Tellin' the truth is far worse." Dean gave a little proud smile to himself, one that Sam couldn't see as he turned to check the gas price so far. "So, what am I supposed to do? Just cut everybody out of my life?" Sam asked incredulously. Dean shrugged and turned to look at Sam again. Sam's eyes widened, "You're serious!?"
"Look. It sucks. But, in a job like this, you can't get close to people. Period." Dean said matter-of-factly. Sam gave a little huff and turned his attention back to his emails, "You're kind of antisocial. You know that?" Dean pursed his lips to stay his remark as he leaned away from the car long enough to switch one foot over the other, "Yeah… Whatever."
A silence stretched on for a few moments before Sam spoke again, more mumbling to himself, "... God…" "What?" Dean asked as he leaned closer to the window to peer at his brother's email. Seeing the title of the email, he read, "Bad News," and proceeded to read along as Sam gave his summary of the content. "In this email, from this girl, Rebecca Warren - one of those friends of mine-" "Is she hot?" Dean interrupted. Ignoring him, Sam continued, "I went to school with her and her brother, Zack. She says Zack's been charged with murder…? He's been arrested for killing his girlfriend. Rebecca says he didn't do it, but it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case." Sam tapped the screen again with the stylus. Dean glanced to Sam warily, "Dude, what kind of people are you hangin' out with?" Taken aback, Sam blinked, "No, man. I know Zack. He's no killer." Tilting his head to one side to glance at his brother, Dean responded, "Well, maybe you know Zack as well as he knows you." Sam glanced up to meet his brother's gaze. "They're in Saint Louis… We're goin'."
Dean chuckled as if he'd heard a really funny joke, then quickly turned a serious expression when he met Sam's gaze, "Look. Sorry 'bout your buddy, okay? But this does not sound like our kind of problem." "It is our problem. They're my friends -" "Saint Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Sam!" Dean protested, not moving from his spot. It wasn't until Sam made a face at him that expressed all sorts of emotions that Dean caved in. He replaced the nozzle back to the pump and paid for the gas, Dean then got into the car sulkily. Turned around back the way they had just came, the engine of the Impala again roared down the road toward its new destination.
Sam tucked away the PalmPilot as he looked at the opulent Warren residence he'd found directions for. As the car was put in park, he got out, the door creaked in protest, and he made his way up the steps to the front door. Dean followed behind him, mumbling under his breath. Ignoring his brother, Sam pounded on the front door to the house. The large, wooden door opened up to reveal three ladies, each in their early twenties. The one in front was the only one recognizable to Sam Winchester. "Oh, my God! SAM!" The blonde-haired woman chimed with a welcoming smile. "Well, if it isn't 'Little Becky'," Sam teased. "You know what you can do with that 'Little Becky' crap," Rebecca pouted playfully. Despite her response, she enveloped her friend in a warm hug, unaware of the glances the two women behind her exchanged.
"I got your email," Sam said. "I didn't think you would come here," Rebecca replied as she stepped out of the embrace. The red-haired, freckle-faced woman to Rebecca's left eyed the shorter brother, who looked her up and down as well, but in a more flirtatious manner. Her friend, standing to her right, and also behind Becky, eyed him as well with a wary gaze. The man being scrutinized stepped forward with a polite smile and extended a hand, "Dean. Older brother." Rebecca took his hand with a smile before she glanced over her shoulders from one friend to the other. "These are my friends," she explained. Her hand gestured first to one woman then the other. "The redhead is Grace and the neon hair is Robyn." Robyn smiled softly as she flipped her long, neon fire-highlighted hair over her shoulder. Both Grace and Robyn nodded politely to the brothers, but their eyes still inspected them carefully. "Hi," Dean replied with a flirtatious smile and a glance between the three ladies. "We're here to help," Sam said, "Whatever we can do."
Rebecca stepped aside to make room for the brothers to enter, "Come in." She then lead the boys from the foyer towards the kitchen with Grace following close behind. Robyn closed the door behind them and followed suit. By the time Grace and Robyn had joined the others in the kitchen, Sam had turned down the offer for a beer. Looking to Rebecca, Sam inquired, "Tell us what happened." Grace moved closer to Rebecca, knowing that once she started telling the tale, her friend would need solace.
"Well, um… Zack came home… And he found Emily tied to a chair. And she was beaten up and bloody… And she wasn't breathing." As she paused to swallow, Grace consoled her distressed friend. Taking up the conversation, Grace continued, "So, he called '911.' The police showed up. They arrested him on the spot with no questions asked. But, the only way Zack could have killed Emily is if he was in two places at once. However, the police have video footage from the camera across the street from Zack's place. It shows Zack coming home around ten at night. Emily was killed after that, sometime around ten-thirty, I think." She paused as if to contemplate the wording of her next sentence. "But… He was here with us. Having beers and telling stupid jokes until at least after midnight," she finished with a scowl. She considered saying more, but went quiet instead. Her eyes noted the looks on Sam and Dean's faces.
"You know. Maybe we could see the crime scene? Zack's house," Sam mentioned with a look to his brother, gaining a raised eyebrow from Grace and a stunned blink from Robyn. "We could," Dean chimed in somewhat hesitantly. "Why? I mean... What could you do?" Rebecca asked. "Well, me," Sam replied, "Not much. But, Dean's a cop." Dean chuckled, but Grace turned to look at Robyn. Both quirked brows at each other before Robyn's brown eyes glanced away from Grace's for a moment. Turning back, Robyn nodded to Grace subtly. "Detective, actually," Dean continued as Grace turned to eye him again. She noted the quick glances between Dean and Sam. "Really!?" Rebecca asked delightedly, earning a quick nod from the unkempt, cheeky man with slight stubble forming. Grace looked Dean up and down again before asking suspiciously, "Where at?" "Bisbee, Arizona," Dean responded quickly, sweeping a glance around the room. "But, I'm off duty now." Grace took a step away from Becky as Robyn coughed, "Bullshit," softly into her hand then masked it by clearing her throat afterward. The redhead patted on her friend's back.
"You guys… It's so nice to offer… But I just… I don't know." Rebecca shuffled a little in place, fidgeting with her blonde hair with one finger in the process. "Bec… Look," Sam interjected, "I know Zack didn't do this. Now, we have to find a way to prove that he's innocent." Sam leaned a little away from the counter, as if expecting Rebecca to give in. Grace frowned softly. "Okay," Becky conceded. "I'm gonna go get the keys." Rebecca shuffled from the room, leaving Robyn and Grace alone with the two brothers. Sam and Dean took a few steps away and leaned their heads together to talk quietly amongst themselves. Both women subtly moved closer to overhear the brothers' conversation with piqued interest. "... Two places at once? We've looked into less," Sam whispered. Grace glanced to Robyn and shrugged her shoulders. Both women took a step away as they overheard the jingling of keys just before Rebecca entered the room.
"Rebecca," Grace warned gently before Robyn or the guys could speak, "This doesn't seem like a good idea." Robyn nodded in agreement. "It's a crime scene," Grace continued. "It could end with tampered evidence and-" "Well, Dean's a detective," Sam interjected. "We aren't going alone. And we won't move anything." Grace huffed softly, crossed her arms, and frowned at Sam. Grace knew Sam had gone to law school. So, why was he suggesting all of this? In the end, protests fell on deaf ears and the boys drove with Becky in their Impala while Robyn and Grace followed in their Cadillac Escalade EXT.
Climbing down from the Escalade, Grace glanced toward the sleek black Impala overhearing Becky ask Dean if he was sure this was okay. "Yeah. I am an officer of the law," he responded. Grace's slim fingers pulled the matte black handle of the Escalade's back door and she unzipped a blue duffel bag lying on the floorboard. Her back to the others gave her the opportunity to twitch slightly at Dean's comment unnoticed. She pulled two pairs of latex gloves and shoe-covers from the bag. Tossing a pair of each to Robyn on the other side of the vehicle, she bumped the door shut with her hip. As she pulled on one glove at a time, she began to follow the brothers. Her eyes narrowed when she noticed their bare hands and dirty shoes entering the house.
As Grace passed by Rebecca, she was glad to see Becky was hesitant to enter. She hoped Rebecca would call the whole thing off. Once inside the house, however, Grace's thoughts turned elsewhere. Her eyes noticed the splatters of blood on the wall, the floor, and the furniture. Her brain began to attempt to recreate the scene. A frown decorated her features as Grace became disturbed at the image her mind created - the absolute slaughter of the poor woman who died and the aggression that was displayed by the blood that had erupted across various surfaces.
Finishing putting on the shoe covers, Robyn followed Grace in and looked around. Wrinkling her nose at the scene, she tried to refrain from commenting as she moved cautiously around the room. From behind her, Sam spoke sympathetically, "Bec, you wanna wait outside?" Both Grace and Robyn turned to look at Rebecca. Both held the hope that Rebecca would indeed stay out, not wanting her to see the massacre inside. Grace nodded in agreement ,"Maybe you should-" "No," the blonde puffed up bravely, "I want to help." Rebecca ducked under the yellow police tape. Sam moved toward Becky, talking to her gently to help her compose herself.
Grace moved around the room. Her eyes analyzed everything she could, including the way Dean touched everything with his gloveless hands; the way Robyn was following Sam a few feet behind him, though the slight quirk to Robyn's smile and the way she was looked at Sam's backside informed Grace that Robyn's mind wasn't on the crime scene. Shaking her head gently, Grace stopped for a moment, and noted how the neighbor's dog hadn't stopped barking since they'd arrived. In fact, Grace had thought to herself, he hadn't stopped barking since the attack. Grace returned her attention to the room. This time the images in her mind showed the blade that was probably used and every stroke it made, creating the splatters on the floor… The coffee table… The couch… The wall… She was so engrossed that she missed the fact that Robyn and Sam had disappeared into the kitchen. Their voices floated into the room in casual conversation and brought Grace back to the present. When she looked up, she watched Dean and Becky make their way towards the kitchen as well. Realizing she was alone in the room, she followed suit.
In the kitchen, Robyn seemed to be consoling Rebecca as the two brothers were talking to one side with ducked heads and whispered words. The way Robyn was tilting her head indicated that she was attempting to listen not only to Rebecca, but the brothers as well. Grace moved to stand by Robyn as she hoped to overhear the hushed comments as well.
Dean stepped away from his brother and asked Rebecca, "So… The tape… The security footage. You think maybe your lawyers could get their hands on it? 'Cause, I just don't have that kind of jurisdiction." Rebecca smiled sheepishly, "I've already got it. I didn't wanna say something in front of the cop." Dean laughed, missing Robyn choking down her own chuckle. Both earned a glare from Grace. "I stole it off the lawyer's desk. I just had to see it for myself," Becky finished with a slight shrug. "Alright. Let's get going then," Dean said as he turned to leave. Sam lingered behind long enough to give a shy smile before he waved the ladies onward. "After you." "Such a gentleman," Grace mumbled as she passed him by. Robyn grinned impishly and gave a flirtatious wink, which caused Sam's smile to turn sheepish. "Stop that!" Grace said without even turning around. "What!?" Robyn asked as innocently as she could.
When the group had reconvened at the house, they'd all gathered at the couch in front of the television. Putting the tape in the VCR, Rebecca pushed "Play" and sat with Dean and Sam on the couch. Grace and Robyn stood behind them. All eyes were fixed on the screen and the scene that played out before them. Dean pointed out the timestamp on the screen as Zack was shown entering his house, "Twenty-two oh-four." He looked to Sam with a puzzled look. "That's just after ten." Looking to Becky, Dean continued, "You said time of death was ten-thirty?" Becky nodded, "Our lawyers hired some kind of video expert. He says the tape's authentic. It wasn't tampered with." She leaned back into the couch cushions. Rebecca's eyes never left the tape, as if she might miss something she had never seen before over the several times she had reviewed the tape. Grace, however, noticed that something grabbed Sam's attention.
Pausing the tape, Sam turned to the trio of girls in the room, "Hey, Bec? Can we take those beers now?" "Oh, sure," Becky responded absently, almost lost in thought. She began to make her way to the kitchen, pausing only when Sam called her name again. "And maybe some sandwiches too?" His eyes flickered to Robyn and Grace. Taking the hint, Robyn crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him, "This ain't Hooters, bub… You hungry? Go feed yourself." Grace frowned and stayed by Robyn, and watched the interaction. Rebecca simply smiled and continued as if never having been stopped. The brothers leaned in together, attempting to block the view of the television from the girls behind the couch. "Check this out," Sam whispered to his brother as he rewound the tape. He paused where Grace had known he would, and showed the odd color that overlaid Zack's eyes on the screen. "Well, maybe that's a camera flare," Dean whispered back. Sam shook his head slightly, "That's not like any camera flare I've ever seen." Robyn peered over Sam's left shoulder with a thoughtful expression as he startled at her voice, "You know, a lot of cultures believe that a photograph can catch a glimpse of the soul." Dean looked to her, surprised, "Right." Grace's head appeared over Dean's right shoulder with a contemplative frown, "Remember the viciously barking dog back at Zack's? Maybe he saw that thing. Maybe it's some kind of double of Zack's, or something that looks like him but isn't really him? Like a uh… A…" Robyn looked to Grace behind the brothers, "Like a doppelganger." Grace nodded at Robyn, "Yeah. That." The brothers looked to each other as if trying to contemplate when they lost the conversation. Grace nodded again, and tapped her finger to her chin in deep thought, "You know… My uncle used to talk about creatures like that a lot when I was younger… Before he became the family black sheep..." Both Sam and Dean's eyes widened in surprise. Ignoring the brothers at this point, Robyn nodded in agreement as she straightened and looked to the side in deliberation, "Yeah… It'd sure explain how he was in two places at once." Sam, in an attempt to regain control of the conversation, "It's something to look into." The quartet went silent as Becky entered the room again, bringing beers for everyone but Grace, who took a bottle of water. Despite Robyn's protest, Becky also managed to produce a small tray of sandwiches, which was passed around the room.
The next morning, Grace woke early and dressed in her jogging gear. Her red hair was pulled up into a tall ponytail and an Ipod was strapped to her arm. She set out before the sun had risen above the horizon, leaving the others to sleep in without her. As she jogged down the road, making the same route as she had for the last two weeks since both she and Robyn had stayed with Rebecca, she circled the block and found Sam and Dean parked outside Zack's house. They talked back and forth about something she couldn't hear until she pulled the earphones from her ears. She came to a stop at the corner down the way, out of sight from the pair. "'Cause they think the killer never left," Dean suggested, "And they caught your friend, Zack, inside. I still don't know what we're doin' here at five-thirty in the morning." He lifted a cup of coffee to his lips as he shifted and leaned against the hood of his car.
Near him, Sam emerged following a trail from the garbage shed Grace had ducked behind to keep from being seen. She peered around when she heard Sam's voice, "Blood. Somebody came this way." "Yeah, but the trail ends," Dean replied. "I don't see anything over here," he continued as he half-assedly looked around at his surroundings. Grace squinted her eyes in the direction that Sam stood, realizing Dean wouldn't notice her in his present groggy state.
As sirens blared closer and closer, an ambulance rushed by and made Grace almost jump. She let her eyes follow its course before plugging in her music again and followed after it at a decent running pace, being sure to stay out of sight from Dean and Sam. However, as she arrived at the scene, Grace noted Dean already there. The Impala, however, was nowhere to be seen.
A man was being pushed into the backseat of a police cruiser. She stepped forward into the crowd, her Ipod paused so she could listen discreetly to the conversations around her without being noticed. "I can't believe it," an onlooker said. "Another murder so soon?" Inquired another bystander. "And he was so nice too. Who knew he'd tie her up and beat her?" Commented a woman near Grace to another who had her mouth covered with her well-manicured nails. "It's just terrible, Susan. The police better get going on this soon before someone else dies." "Especially with that crazy talk… Seeing himself in the house… What a nut." "Well, at least he's detained."
Grace looked away from the scene to see Dean walking away, his bow-legged gait hard to miss even from the distance he had already gained. She wound her way through the crowd after him, curious about what he had to say to Sam, who had obviously not gone with his brother. By the time she was close, Dean had returned to his brother. Blending into the crowd, she stayed nearby to eavesdrop on them. "Well, I just talked to the patrolman who was first on the scene," Dean informed his brother, "Heard this guy, Alex's story. Apparently, the dude was driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked." Grace raised an eyebrow, glad to have been able to catch some of the conversation. "So, he was at two places at once," Sam surmised. Dean nodded, "Exactly. Then, he sees himself in the house. Police think he's a nutjob." "Two dark doubles attacking loved ones in exactly the same way?" Sam thought outloud. "Could be the same thing doin' it too," suggested Dean. Silence fell as Sam contemplated the information. Finally, his mouth opened to say the very thing that had sprung to the front of Grace's mind, "Shapeshifter?" Dean shrugged, "Every culture in the world has a shapeshifter lore. You know. Legends of creatures who can transform themselves into animals or other men." Sam nodded, "Right. Skinwalkers… Werewolves…" "We've got two attacks within blocks of each other. I'm guessin' we've got a shapeshifter prowlin' the neighborhood," observed Dean. Grace frowned and mumbled under her breath, "Lovely…" She looked up and down the street to make sure she wasn't being watched or followed, then she turned back to pay attention to the conversation again. "... Yeah. And, just like at Zack's house, the trail suddenly ends. I mean, whatever it is, just disappeared," Sam continued. Dean shrugged, "Well, there's another way to go…" Grace blinked once, and finished the sentence with the man as he looked to the nearest manhole cover, "Down." She chewed at her lower lip, and hoped against hope that these two would not be going down into the sewers. Very quickly, she was proven that the brothers were indeed as predictable as she thought them to be.
As she watched the brothers disappear blow and the cover be shifted back over the hole in the ground, she resolved herself to sitting. As she waited for their return, she hoped that she would learn something new about the situation, but the knowledge that all of the bedtime stories her mother had ever told her when she was young had been real kept her distracted until the brothers reemerged from the sewers. When they revealed nothing of what they may or may not have seen down under, she went on her way back to the house.
Grace sprinted the whole way, her breath bated and her forehead sweaty by the time she pushed the front door open and sidled up to Robyn, who was on her laptop in the kitchen but watching an agitated Becky over the screen. "So," she whispered as she eyed Becky on the phone in the next room, "Another attack. The victim is alive. The brothers think it's a shapeshifter. And, I really can't disagree... No matter how much I want to." Robyn kept her eyes glued on Becky, but passed a piece of paper with the heading of "Detective Dean Winchester" and the results of a search of the "Bisbee Police Department's Personnel Roster." "He's so not a cop," Robyn whispered to Grace. She blinked as her thoughts focussed on what Grace had said, "Shit… A shapeshifter?" "Yeah," Grace answered softly, "And they are way knowledgeable about it. Like… Beyond 'just a fascination' level."
Rebecca's voice floated into the kitchen from the foyer, "I told the lawyers that we went to the crime scene." Robyn chuckled softly, "Oooooooooh… Someone's about to be busteeeeeed…" Grace snapped her fingers in front of Robyn's face and she whispered sharply, "Robyn! Stay on track! Shapeshifter… Deaths…" Rebecca's voice continued to be heard, "Well, I told them that we were with a police officer. And, imagine my surprise when I found out that there is no Detective Dean Winchester." Becky paused briefly before she spoke into the phone exasperatingly again. "No… I don't understand why you would lie to me about something like that… Oh, trying to help!? Do you realize that that was a sealed crime scene!? This could have just ruined Zack's case! ... No… Goodbye, Sam." There was a small beep as Rebecca hung up the house phone.
Robyn's gaze quickly went to her monitor and she began typing. Robyn whispered softly to Grace, "Right… This is where we take over… Think you can find the brothers again?" Grace nodded, her red hair gently bouncing with the motion. "They're either in the sewers again or at Zack's. They looked like they were prepping for a hunt." Grace went quiet to reflect on what she'd said, an odd feeling creeping up in her stomach. Robyn nodded absentmindedly in agreement as she continued to type on her laptop, "That would make sense if they're hunters. But they'll just mess it up." Grace concurred, "No kidding. Look what they did to the crime scene." The memory left her cringing. She continued, "If their DNA isn't all over that crime scene… And it somehow goes unnoticed by anyone with even a fraction of a brain… I'll be surprised." "Try and see if you can't stall them while I do a Locator Virus on the shapeshifter," Robyn continued as if she hadn't noticed Grace's tangent. "All this time, I thought that that was just a joke," Grace mused as she turned to leave again. Robyn glanced to her friend and smiled softly, "Welcome to the Weird World."
Several hours passed before Grace ran into Dean, almost literally, in an alleyway in the dark. She eyed the gun he tried to hide before she surveyed his facial expression, which seemed to be a terrible attempt of nonchalance. She smiled sweetly at him. "Uh… Hey… What are you doing here?" Dean asked. Grace glanced down at herself, her outfit, and looked back up at him with a raised brow, "I'd say… Jogging?" She answered sarcastically. Dean nodded as if he'd known that. "Oh… Yeah… Jogging… That sounds… Healthy… And stuff." He made a face that was a combination between the dislike of his answer and unease of the situation. Smile unwavering, Grace raised a brow, "Yeeeeeeeah… So… Is that a gun in your pocket or is this about to get awkward?" Dean shuffled in place and turned his eyes elsewhere, "Awkward… Definitely awkward." Grace teased, "Awwww… You're adorable." After a few awkward moments of small talk, Dean gave Grace nothing new to go on. However, Grace gave him even less so as to not give herself and Robyn away. Eventually, she parted ways with him and returned to the Warren household to update Robyn.
Upstairs in Grace's room, Robyn and Grace talked about the sewers and how that could be significant, deducing that the shapeshifter, shapechanger, or whatever it was, could have used them as a means of travelling unnoticed. Robyn had searched on her laptop and informed Grace the only way to kill it was with silver. Needing to charge her laptop, Robyn went to her room to continue working on the Virus as well as plug her computer in.
After a few minutes of being left alone with her thoughts, Grace realized that she could hear voices downstairs. She sidled her way quietly down each step until she watched Dean and Becky sitting together on the couch. They talked in hushed tones. Grace's eyes locked on Dean, never leaving his profile. She narrowed her eyes as a thought began niggling at the back of her head. Something wasn't right. Even if she couldn't hear the conversation, she could tell something was off, almost wrong. As Dean leaned in to whisper into Becky's ear, the hairs on the back of Grace's neck stood on end. Rebecca jumped away from Dean as she refused him with obvious disgust to whatever he had whispered. This caused an alarming reaction in Dean and, for a split second, Grace saw a flash in Dean's eyes that had been eerily similar to the same flash Zack's eyes had on the videotape. Grace's eyes widened and she darted up the stairs, and grabbed Robyn from her computer and pulled her to her feet. "Becky! Shapeshifter!," Grace whispered hastily as she continued to pull Robyn to the stairs, "Downstairs! I'll distract. You get her!" "Shit!" Robyn responded, now keeping up with her friend.
Without another word, Grace and Robyn ran down the stairs. Grace took the stairs with precise, measured steps while Robyn cleared two at a time. Turning her last step into a leap, Grace pulled the Not-Dean from where he'd been straddling Becky and to the floor in a grapple. Robyn, right behind her on the stairs, quickly ran over to Rebecca and grabbed her hand. "Run!" Robyn yelled as she dragged Rebecca to her feet and out the door, leaving Grace alone. As she struggled with the creature, Grace discovered very quickly that Not-Dean was stronger than her. Punches were thrown and Grace dodged a few dangerous blows, but, in the end, she found herself in a chair, bound, gagged, and bruised all over.
Robyn continued to run with Rebecca until they had cleared a few blocks. They stopped to glance behind them to see if they were followed. Robyn cussed, "Shit… She should be behind us." Rebecca started sobbing softly as Robyn pulled her phone from her back pocket. Dialing, she pulled Rebecca into an alley and behind a garbage shed. "Stay put." Robyn ordered harshly before continuing to push buttons on her phone. Rebecca sniffled, "What are you doing?" "Tripping your silent alarm," replied Robyn. Rebecca blinked, confused, "You can do that from here?" Robyn smiled softly, "There's a lot I can do… Look… Stay put. I'm going back for Grace." Becky grabbed onto Robyn's arm. "No! He'll get you too!" Robyn pried Rebecca's fingers from her arm. "I have cavalry comin'. Stay here. I'll get Grace and we'll come back for you." With that, Robyn began to run back to the house, smiling to herself as she heard sirens blaring in the air.
"You're a nice girl, Grace. I mean, I liked you. I liked all of you. Believe me. That just makes this harder." The Not-Dean inspected the blood-soaked blade in his hand. The moonlight from the nearby window glittered from it eerily as he dragged it across her skin again. "But I gotta do what I gotta do," he whispered as he flung the blade from her skin, sending her blood over the floor and furniture around her. Grace's whimper of pain was muffled by the gag in her mouth. "Shhhhhh…" He hushed her. His hand covered her mouth and he pressed the blade against her cheek threateningly as a new sound echoed through the house. She glared at him, and wished she was free to get a few more hits of her own in. However, he began to move away and into the shadows as the new sounds drew closer. He slipped from the room, leaving her in the silence with her bruises that throbbed and cuts that slowly dribbled out blood in rivulets. A few moments later, the door was kicked in and a team of men in black and grey suits, body armor, and guns invaded. Guns were pointed in every direction. "It's okay," one said to her as he crouched before her and pulled the gag from her mouth. "Which way did he go?" "Down the hall and to the left, I think," she responded quickly. He began to untie her hands and feet while the rest of the team moved to follow the shapeshifter. Grace heard shouts and, after a second, gunfire rang in a neighboring room before she heard someone on the phone with the ambulance service. A third person placed a call for an APB. Grace sighed in defeat. He'd gotten away.
An hour or so passed quickly with question and answer sessions from cop to cop, with paramedics who checked Grace over several times before they accepted her decision to not go to the hospital after she continuously assured them her injuries were not so serious. Once they were alone, Robyn informed Grace that she'd tripped the alarm after stashing Rebecca in a hiding spot a few blocks away. Annoyed, Grace looked to the back of Robyn's head as she followed her friend, "So… You left her alone?" Robyn rolled her eyes, "Well… It was either that or leave you in the hands of a sicko-psycho." As they reached the hiding spot, Grace looked to Robyn with an 'I told you so' look. Rebecca was nowhere to be seen. Robyn cussed softly under her breath and sighed. The sounds of sirens nearby and shouting disrupted their already silent conversation. Grace and Robyn looked to each other in surprise as they overheard Sam's voice, "Look, they can't hold me. Just go! Keep out of sight! Meet me at Rebecca's." There was a pause as Grace and Robyn peered around the corner to see a police cruiser cutting off each end of the alley. Sam stood in the middle, between the two, and Dean had disappeared over a wooden fence of a neighbor's. Sam yelled to Dean, "Stay out of the sewers alone. I mean it!"
Officers converged on Sam with guns drawn and shouted at him to put his hands in the air. Robyn nudged Grace to get her attention and whispered softly, "You pull Sam from jail… I'll follow Dean." A small smile twitched on Grace's face as she said matter-of-factly, "You think he's going to get into trouble." The look Robyn gave was ignored as Grace turned and made her way back to the house. Once there, Grace changed and put on enough makeup to hide the few marks on her face from her earlier brawl. The drive was an easy one in the Escalade with Journey blaring over the speakers and her thumbs tapped at the steering wheel, even for a minute longer after being parked in the lot outside the police station.
"Oh… Right… Saving people," Grace reminded herself before she stepped gracefully from the car, a briefcase in hand, and her heels clicking along the asphalt toward the precinct double doors. Her hands pulled down the long sleeves of her blazer nervously before she took a deep breath and entered the facility. "Good evening, gentlemen," Grace greeted the two guards at the door. "I believe you have my client, Sam Winchester. I'd like to see what you have that constitutes him being held." She smiled charmingly at the two men who exchanged glances, looked her over once, then began briefing her on what they had. One red brow rose when they quieted, "Meaning… Everything you have is circumstantial. I think it's time for him to be released… Now." The last word rolled from her tongue in a demanding tone. "Of course," the taller officer conceded, pushing his desk chair away from his computer and moved around the desk with a hand extended in an after you motion, "This way, please." "Ever the gentleman," she smiled sweetly as she remarked, letting him guide her to a door that the officer unlocked and held open for her. Her smile turned more polite as she shifted her hold on the briefcase in her hand to step around the officer even as he spoke, "Mr. Winchester, your attorney has made arrangements for your release." The look on Sam's face was gratifying enough for Grace. His pupils dilated in surprise and his shoulders tensed with the realization that she, too, was not who she seemed to be. "Let's go, Sam," Grace said cooly. He nodded, and Grace turned to leave, not waiting for him and his monstrous stride to catch up to her own smaller one. By the time the doors to the precinct were shut behind them, she was letting out a sigh of relief and her shoulders sagged into her more natural posture. Her grip loosened on her briefcase and the smile on her lips seemed more satisfied than dutiful.
"Okay… Spill," Sam demanded as his arm moved between her and the driver's side door of the Escalade. He pressed his palm flat against the door and easily shut it again. "You're no lawyer," he accused. "And your brother's no cop," she countered matter-of-factly. "Let's just say we're on the same side." She glanced toward the car again, really wishing he'd move. "Wait… You're a hunter!?" Sam asked incredulously. Grace pulled the briefcase forward, holding it loosely in both hands, as if creating a barrier between herself and Sam. "Well… Sort of… Look… I really don't have the time to explain."
She paused to take a breath and met his gaze again, "We lost track of Rebecca and Robyn is following Dean. So, you and I have to hunt down Rebecca." Sam shook his head, "No, I have to get my brother first. We've got to stop the shapeshifter." A scoff left Grace's lips and she finally turned away from him, her hand grabbing the crook of his elbow and pulled his arm from between herself and the car. "Yeah. Your brother just oozes with the impression he's going to wait for you to get out before he goes hunting the thing that stole his face and his car." She gestured for him to get in with a nod of her head, "You Winchesters…" Sam sighed, resigned. "Okay… Point made." Sam circled to the passenger side, taking the cue that Grace would not let him stall her much longer. "We'll check the house again before looking through the alleys. I'm hoping she went home when everything settled down," Grace said as she started the car, not seeming to be phased when Don't Stop Believing blared over the radio as loud as it could possibly be. Sam looked to her with a raised eyebrow, "Really!?... Journey!?" He yelled over the song. Grace reached over to turn down the music, "Hey, I'd rather not stop believing and keep on runnin' than be on the highway to Hell," she remarked as she pulled the vehicle onto the road. "But you're welcome to change it at any time," she allowed, not seeing the blink he gave her… Or the smile. "No, it's fine. Driver picks the music."
Robyn glanced at her PalmPilot again, and frowned as she watched the arrowed blip on the screen of a street map that lead down a nearby alley while another appeared at the Warren house. Glancing around, she followed down an alley until she stopped at a manhole cover. Muttering to herself, she scrunched up her nose, "Great…" Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned, her hand instinctively reached behind her to grasp the silver knife tucked in its sheath at her back. Sighing in relief, she chuckled to herself as Dean hastily put something inside his jacket. As she frowned softly, she raised her PalmPilot and let it's camera flash feature flare into Dean's eyes. "Son of a bitch!" Dean exclaimed as he rubbed his eyes with the heel of his free hand. Shrugging, Robyn double-checked the map on her PalmPilot. Ignoring his discomfort, she glanced at the manhole cover, "Sorry, had to check." "For what?" Dean asked as he shook the spots from his vision. "For reflective eyes… Ya know… Shapeshifter…" Dean chuckled uneasily, "Shapeshifter? What kind of crazy notion is that?" Robyn looked to Dean and sighed, "The notion that either that's a gun in your jacket loaded with, I hope, silver bullets, or it's about to get really awkward."
Dean looked to her surprised, "Okay… After this is all done, we're all gonna sit down and have a nice little chat." Robyn smiled sweetly, "I don't kiss and tell, pretty boy." She knelt down and removed the manhole cover. Dean watched her, "What are you doing?" Sighing, she looked up at him like he was mentally slow, "Well… I'm tracking shapeshifter and Rebecca… She wasn't where I stashed her… And my little handy gadget here," she showed him her PalmPilot, "says that one is back at the Warren house… Which I'm hoping is Rebecca… And the other is in the sewers… Which, again hoping, is our friendly, neighborhood sicko-shifter." "Oh," he said. After a few moments, ones which Robyn counted mentally, Dean frowned, "Wait… You knew I wasn't the shifter yet you still flashed me." Robyn grinned, looked up at him, and batted her eyelashes playfully, "Well, a lady can't be too careful these days… You could've been some pervert pretending to be a cop." Slowly, Robyn began to descend into the sewers. She hit the bottom before she heard the, "HEY!" from Dean above.
Robyn glanced down at her PalmPilot as she pointed it both directions in the sewer, then heard Dean step down behind her. "This way," she whispered. Quietly, she lead Dean down the sewers and pulled her dagger from its sheath at her back. "What? No gun?" Dean whispered sarcastically. She replied with a shake of her head, "Too unpredictable… Could jam… Could prematurely go off… Besides, if I'm going to kill something, I'm going to let the last thing it see be the one who sent it to the beyond." Dean paused momentarily as he blinked at Robyn's back, "I don't know whether to worried... Or turned on."
After a few moments, Dean and Robyn entered the shapeshifter's den, which was filled with candles and chains and various trinkets thrown about. Revolting piles of skin and blood were scattered all over the floor. "Wow, he's been busy," Robyn grimaced. Dean looked to her and motioned for silence as he moved to the far side of the den where a figure was covered by a sheet. Slowly, he raised his gun and looked to Robyn, who checked her PalmPilot. Nodding, she took a stance in preparation to lunge with her knife if necessary. They mouthed the count to three together, Dean yanked the sheet off the figure to reveal Rebecca with her hands and feet tied with rope. Dean began to untie Rebecca's bonds before Robyn gave him a "really?" look and passed him a switchblade from her pocket. He blinked at her and she shrugged, "A girl's gotta be prepared." Dean looked to Rebecca as he began to cut at her bonds, "What happened?" Rebecca sobbed her response, "I was waiting for Robyn and Grace. I got scared, so I started heading back home. And then everything just went white. Someone hit me over the head. I wound up here just in time to see that thing turn into me. I don't know. How is that even possible?" Dean reassuringly rubbed Rebecca's arms as Robyn frowned down at her PalmPilot. Raising it up, she activated the flash feature again, causing Dean to cover his face, "Again with the flashes!?" Rebecca blinked rapidly as Dean glared at Robyn. Robyn looked to Dean with discouraging look, "She's not the shapeshifter." "Well, duh," he replied. Sighing, she showed him the blips on her PalmPilot again, "If she's the blip in the sewer… That means the other blip isssss…" Dean's eyes widened as he looked to Robyn again, "Son of a bitch!"
A few minutes later, Grace and Sam sat in the living room with Rebecca, talking about shapeshifters. "So, say this shapeshifter is real… By the way, you know you're crazy?... But, um, say it is real. How do you stop it?" Grace kept her frown from her face as she eyed Rebecca. For some reason, she had that "something is not right" feeling again. But this time, it's with her friend, who circled behind the couch. Rebecca handed the pair a beer each, and Grace accepted despite the fact that she never drank in front of Becky. "Thanks," Sam said with a sigh. "With a silver bullet to the heart." He answered. The thought hit Grace again, 'I never drink in front of Becky.' Grace's eyes widened and she whispered in alarm to Sam, "Sam… This isn't-" "You are crazy," came Becky's response before there was the sound of shattered glass and the pain to the back of Grace's head, followed shortly thereafter… By darkness…
"... Have some fun with Grace first… Before killing her slowly. Hell, he may even let you watch. That'll be fun, won't it?" The voices seemed muffled at first. The first part of the conversation had been missed as Grace began to come around, her head lifted and her eyes blinked away the stars to see Dean pass in front of her. She tried to lean forward, but the ropes at her shoulders restricted her and she heard a small sound of protest from Sam in the chair behind her. "They'll never catch him," she heard Sam say. She looked over her shoulder at Sam with a neutral expression, Grace realized they were tied back-to-back in chairs. "Oh," Not-Dean continued, "It doesn't matter… Another serially mutilated woman… And the murder of his brother? He'll be hunted for the rest of his life." Grace didn't understand why the creature, the shapeshifter, was doing what he - it - was doing. Maybe, it was for the sheer pleasure of it all? It definitely hadn't started out of fear of being noticed. And it sure as Hell wasn't to cover any tracks. "I must say," sighed Not-Dean theatrically, "I will be sorry to lose this skin. Your brother's got a lot of good qualities. You should appreciate him more than you do." There was a sound of liquid being poured into a glass out of her line of sight. "Cheers." As Not-Dean passed in front of her again, he held a glass with some sort of alcohol.
Grace watched him go into the kitchen, where he plucked a knife from the knife block on the counter, eyed it over once, and returned to the living room. He dramatically slammed it, point down, into the nearby pool table. Grace glanced over her shoulder again to meet the green gaze of the Winchester behind her with a nod. She looked up to the Shapeshifter as he shuffled about, and she waited patiently. When he was finally close enough to her, Grace lifted her legs and kicked out at him with all of her might, which sent him to the ground and gave both she and Sam a chance to work together, half-bouncing / half-dragging their tied-together chairs towards the knife. Grace reached up with her bound wrists and began to cut her ties first. She then passed the knife to Sam once her hands were free. "Sam," she began warningly as she leaned down to untie the bonds at her feet while he cut at his own restraints. Her eyes watched as Not-Dean stood and began to advance on her with eyes that glittered silver and an expression that said she had no chance against him while she was still hindered by the chair. "Saaaaaaammm…" Grace's voice and movements became more frantic as she tried unsuccessfully to work at the ropes. Her fingers moved faster, but still got nowhere. To her relief, however, the blow that had been meant for her was blocked by Sam, who pushed Not-Dean away from where she sat.
Letting out a breath, Grace successfully untied the ropes at her ankles after a few more seconds. Smiling, satisfied with herself when the ropes finally went slack, Grace stood up. She watched as Sam was thrown to the ground and she sprint-jumped over him. Her arms circled around Not-Dean and her momentum carried the two of them to the ground. She straddled his hips, just as he had done to Becky, and she punched as hard as she could, dealing blow after blow to his kidneys. She muttered a few curses at him under her breath with each strike.
One fist landed in his hand, however, and in the next second, she was underneath him instead. He raised a fist as he growled out, "Oh, you bitch…" He dealt one blow to the jaw before a flash of black and blue pulled him from her view. She blinked once to clear the stars before she pushed herself to stand, seeing Sam and Not-Dean fighting one another with the occasional conversation thrown in between punches. She looked around the room and found only pool cues and other small objects that she knew would do no good. However, as the bookshelf crumbled and fell on top of the fallen Winchester brother, she had no choice but to grab the nearest cue stick and she swung it just as hard as she could across the back of Not-Dean's head. It splintered and shattered, much to her chagrin. What remained in her hand was grabbed and she was yanked towards Not-Dean, who pulled the unsuspecting Grace into yet another blow.
Sam joined the fight and the three of them grappled and yelled and fought each other until they each tripped over the other, which caused the trio to fall into the coffee table and shattered it too. Grace again saw stars, this time longer than before. By the time they were gone from her vision, Not-Dean straddled Sam with his hands around his throat. She tried, really, to throw him off of Sam. To pull him from the ground and throw him to the side. To loosen his grip. But, against something with such an inhuman amount of strength? It was no surprise to her that all she could do was wrap herself around the creature and go deadweight. She even looped one arm around his throat in an attempt to choke him out first, and the other dealt struck at Not-Dean's back.
"HEY!" Grace froze. The voice that boomed in the room was very much Dean's, and that one word held no small amount of venom. She turned to look towards the door, seeing Robyn at Dean's side and a gun pointed in her direction. Slowly, she unwound herself from the shapeshifter and moved away. The shapeshifter rose from where he had pinned Sam and slowly backed away from Dean with fear-filled eyes.
Two shots rang out in the room, which made Grace wince from the volume of it. Rebecca suddenly rushed into the room, her eyes going straight to Sam on the floor. "Sam!" She cried as she ran over to him and threw herself to the floor beside him. Her hands lifted Sam's head and settled it onto her lap, and she began to stroke his hair comfortingly. "No-no… I'm fine… Just a split lip… Few bruised ribs… Maybe a concussion… But fine, nonetheless," Grace grumbled to herself, not seeing Robyn had crossed the room until she was being petted on the back sympathetically. Grace glanced at her friend with a frown. "I'm going to go… Sit… Somewhere… Anywhere…" She turned to leave the room, not seeing the real Dean pull the necklace from the shapeshifter before the real Dean looked up at each person in the room. Grace just wanted to lay down upstairs, truth be told.
She paused in the threshold between the living room and the foyer and turned to look back at the room with a thoughtful expression. "Gunfire… The neighbors would have called the cops. Dean should probably get out before they get here." Her eyes found Dean's candy apple green gaze from across the room. "So, you know, so you don't raise any questions." "Right," Dean grumbled with a look around the room, "I'll just take Baby and-" "You mean the Impala?" Grace interrupted with a shake of her head. "No, because Sam is staying here and he will need a vehicle for the cops to know he's still here." She glanced to Robyn from across the room. "We can go to the store. Get food and stuff. Because, we're all tired and Rebecca is not cooking for a household." She paused with a thoughtful roll of her eyes to the ceiling, "And I would very much like a soda right about now." Robyn nodded in agreement as she looked to Sam, "You might want to come up with a plausible cover story about why you're here." Robyn pulled out her keys and looked to Rebecca, "Give us a call when the coast is clear to come back." She followed after Grace. "You're driving," Grace mumbled to Robyn as she continued through the house, this time towards the front door. "Of course," Robyn replied.
"Hold on. I'm not going anywhere without Sam!" Dean said stubbornly. Robyn stopped in her tracks and turned to Dean. "Oh, so you're gonna play the whole 'evil twin' schtick?" Clapping excitedly, she added with sarcasm, "We'll stay here then, and watch how that works out! Who's bringin' the popcorn?" Grace, hand on the half-opened door to the outside, turned, and exhaustedly shouted through the rooms, "Let's go! We don't have time for this. Police… Sirens… Handcuffs? I've already bailed Sam out once. I can't bail you out too!" Robyn was pretty sure she saw a pout cross Dean's lips as he muttered, "Alright, fine!" He then stomped his way to the front door. Robyn chuckled as she followed suit, waving to the other two, "Good luck!" Grace didn't wait for Dean nor Robyn. Hearing sirens in the distance and knowing they had little time to get out, she climbed into the backseat of the Escalade, let Dean ride shotgun, and Robyn drive.
After they drove to the furthest store from the house, Robyn parked in the darkest part of the parking lot that was still also the closest to the store. Once the car was parked, Dean attempted to open his door only for Grace, who had climbed out first for this express reason, to slam it shut in his face. "No, you're staying in. I'm getting the food." Dean started to protest before Robyn sighed, "Security cameras… Gonna explain how you're lying dead on Rebecca's floor and at the same time you're buying a Snickers bar a good distance away?" Dean slunk back into his seat. "Fine." Robyn smiled gently to Grace, who she figured was about at her wit's end, "Could I, please, have a cola slushee?" Dean looked to Robyn, "You're not goin' in?" She shook her head and looked to Dean, "And let you have free reign to do weird shit in my car? Hells to the no… Plus… You can't do this…" Laying her right hand flat on the dash of the Escalade, a black tint slowly crept over all the windows. She grinned impishly at Dean who stared incredulously at the windows. Proudly, Robyn chimed, "Insta-Tint. No one passing by can see in." Cackling, Robyn winked to Grace before she grinned to the stunned Dean, "It's a button on the other side of the wheel, ya goob." Rob Zombie's Boogeyman began blaring through the speakers of the Escalade as Grace headed to the store.
She was almost at the store's door when she heard Dean yell at the last second over the loud music something about wanting some pie. "Of course he does… Why am I not surprised?" Grace muttered to herself as she sauntered through the door. With her hand at her collarbone, her fingers fiddled with the necklace beneath her shirt as she eyed the various drinks at the cooler. One by one, she plucked drinks from behind the glass doors and shifted them in her hands, and precariously clutched the bottles in her arms while she grabbed food and snacks from the shelves. She swung by the slushee machine and got Robyn's large frosty drink. Finally, she came to think about what she wanted to eat. Grace moved over to the salty snacks, again fumbling with the items already in her arms but still managed to keep hold.
As she perused over her options, a husky voice asked from the other end of the aisle, "Need a hand?" Before Grace could respond, the older man stood next to her, and pulled items from her grasp that had begun to fall. "You've got quite a haul here." Grace looked up at the man with the graying hair and wrinkles around his smile. "Thank you," she began. Her eyes gave him a once over before they locked onto his. Once she met his gaze, she couldn't look away. And the longer she looked, the more uneasy she grew. "Partying?" He asked, his golden eyes alight with amusement and his smile grew wider. "I remember those days." "Actually," Grace spoke uneasily quieter as she began to take back her items from the stranger, "I think I've got all I need now. I appreciate the offer though." "Of course," he turned and lead her to the counter where he began placing various pies and chip snacks he'd plucked from her onto its surface. He smiled to her once more before he turned away. With a slight nod of his head, the stranger said, "Have a good night, Hannah." Nervous, Grace nodded, "Thank you. You as well."
"Is this all, Miss?" Grace nodded to the clerk and then blinked once at the cash in her hand. Surprise turned into shock and then fear as she looked around to see that the man was gone. She had never introduced herself to him. And even if she had, it would never have been by her given first name. "Miss?" The clerk called again, louder this time to get her attention. Grace jumped and turned to him, "I'm sorry?" "The total is $20.02." "Oh… Right… Here…" She passed the clerk a fifty dollar bill and gathered the bags in her hands and the frosty drink, "Keep the change." Ignoring the clerk and everything else except the Escalade, Grace hurried back to her friend.
Opening the door to the backseat, Grace was greeted with the Eiffel 65's song I'm Blue blasting through the speakers. "Oh, God… MAKE IT STOP!" Dean hollered as his head rested on the dashboard. Grace noticed Robyn happily danced in her seat, either oblivious to Dean's discomfort or reveling in it. Grace climbed into the back seat, the bags crinkled as they settled on the seat beside her. "Is it good to go back now?" Robyn nodded as she turned down the radio to where they could hear each other. "Did you get my pie?" Dean asked hopefully. Grace stared at Dean with narrowed eyes before she turned and rifled through the bags. Pulling out three mini-pies, each a different flavor, she tossed all three over his shoulder and onto his lap. "Happy now? You didn't say what kind, so I got what they had. Apple, cherry, and lemon." Grace then passed Robyn her drink to which Robyn happily removed the straw wrapper and began to slowly drink her favorite beverage. "Sweet!" Dean replied as he began to unwrap one of the pies, unaware that Robyn next to him stared in the rearview mirror at Grace with some concern.
She could see that Grace was frazzled, but said nothing. Robyn off the radio, and Dean let out a sigh of relief before he began to pull back the wrapper to his pie. As he lifted one of the pies to his mouth, Robyn looked to him and smiled sweetly, "No eating in my car." Dean froze just before he bit down on the pie and turned to glare at Robyn. "Oh, COME ON!" Robyn smiled cheekily as she took another slow drag from her drink. "My car… My rules… Driver does what she wants… Smart-ass, male passengers can embrace the suck!" Grace sat the rest of the bags on the floorboard of the car and turned to lay on her side, her back to the two who bickered up front. "Wake me up when we get back," she finally grumbled to the other two.
Some time passed as the Escalade made the trip back to the Warren home. Grace was quiet in the back, but her breath was not quite even enough to indicate sleep. In her mind, she turned over and over the face of the man she'd met at the store as if she might recall meeting him somewhere before. Grace even considered calling her mother to ask if he was a family friend of some kind. She even analyzed what little she had noted of his face outside the color of his eyes, as if trying to reread an expression she might have missed. He hadn't seemed… Aggressive, really. Perhaps smug… Or knowledgeable. As if he knew something she didn't. Which didn't help her peace of mind since he had known her first name without her telling it to him. Grace was so perplexed by the whole scenario that she didn't notice when the Escalade stopped and the engine turned off.
"Hey," Robyn said as she gently shook Grace from the front seat. "We're here, hon." The look of concern still on Robyn's face as Grace nodded. She contemplated just staying in the Escalade, staring at it's soft pleather of the backseat, but she knew Robyn wouldn't leave her alone. Reluctantly, Grace shuffled around until she sat up, grabbed the bags from the floorboard, and slid from the car. She hip-bumped the door closed before they followed behind Dean, who had already begun to head to the house. Robyn walked silently beside her. Grace shook her head to herself as she realized Dean was happily munching on one of his pies ahead of them.
Grace entered the house last, not surprised to see Sam hold open the door for them and then closed it behind her. "Becky went to bed," he informed Grace as she passed him by. "Here," he gestured to take the bags from her, but Grace refused. "I've got it," she protested as she made her way to the living area. Dean had pulled a chair from the dining room, turned it around, and straddled it with his arms over its back. Robyn sat on the couch across from him. Grace took up the space next to Robyn and pulled out a bottle of Dr. Pepper from the bag of goodies before she passed the sack to her friend silently. Robyn pulled out a travel-size bag of trail mix before she gave the bag to Sam. Grace slowly twisted the top off her bottle and the contents fizzed. She took a sip, and seemed to care that the carbonation tickled her nose.
"So… Hunters, huh?" Sam finally spoke from where he stood awkwardly to one side. Grace glanced at him momentarily before giving a shrug. The bottle lowered from her lips and her hand twisted the cap back on. "As if you don't know other hunters," she remarked. Silence fell again as each person in the room eyed the other in various ways.
Grace noticed Dean staring at her and narrowed her eyes at him, "What?" "How did you know this was a case?" He asked. "We were here before Zack was arrested, y'know. Winter Break and all," Grace replied smartly. "So, you knew them before things went sideways?" Sam asked. Robyn rolled her eyes and replied sarcastically, "No… Becky just let a couple of strange chicks into her family's huge house for a couple of weeks." Grace continued, "Of course we knew them! We went to Stanford with them… With Sam! I even had a class with Sam Winchester." Sam shifted uneasily as if embarrassed. "You know… The guy rumored to have killed his girlfriend," Grace prodded. The brothers blinked simultaneously, "Hold on-" "He didn't." Grace held up a hand. "I know. If you had, I'd have turned you in the second you were on the front porch." She glanced at Sam as Robyn gave a slight shrug of agreement.
"So… What? A couple of hunters just happen to be in town the moment shit hits the fan?" Dean asked as he waved his drink accusingly at the two on the couch. Robyn quirked an eyebrow as she looked him in the eyes, "Pot… Kettle… What?" Grace nudged her friend to direct Robyn's attention back to her and gave Robyn the look that read 'shut up.' As she rolled her eyes, Robyn waved a hand at the brothers, "What!? Well, unless the boys wanna join us in whipping out the goodies to see which one of us hunters is bigger…" She sighed in resignation as she caught Grace's wide-eyed stare, "I suggest we all go to bed." Dean grinned impishly as he cheekily inquired, "Was that an offer?" His eyes flickered between the two ladies on the couch. Grace opened her mouth to reject the idea of it all when Robyn sat forward with an impish grin and purred, "Well… Is it just one of you? Or both at the same time? Because I can guarantee I can rock you both like a hurricane." Grace and Sam exchanged a mutual look of embarrassment over Robyn and Dean before Grace stood, grabbed Robyn's hand and dragged her friend to her feet. With her chin tucked in, Grace's red hair fell forward and blocked the view of her face as she announced to the room, "We are going to bed… Alone… Behind locked doors…" She half-dragged Robyn behind her as Grace headed up the stairs quickly. Halfway up the stairs, Robyn asked in an innocent voice, "What!?" To which Grace replied, "YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT!" The brothers heard a door slam before the house fell into silence. Sam looked to Dean, who met his brother's gaze with a cheeky smile and a shrug of his shoulders as he finished off his drink.
Robyn chuckled as she watched Grace's agitated movements as she got ready for bed, her back to her friend. "Well… You know I could…" "I don't want to talk about it," Grace replied as she turned, her face still curtained by her hair as she pulled back the bedding to lay down. Robyn quirked an eyebrow, then a slow grin crept across her face. "Oh… My… Goddess… YOU LIKE HIM!" Grace rolled over so her back was to her friend, "I don't know what you're talking about," she mumbled. Robyn cackled maniacally as she slid off her bed and tiptoed to the other side of Grace's bed, her head lowered so she could see Grace's pinkish face. In a sing-song voice, "You liiiiiiike him… You wanna kiiiiiiss him… You wanna do the naaaaasty…" Grace rolled over again. "Go to bed, Robyn." Robyn skipped over to the other side and bent over again to examine Grace's now red face. "Is it Sam?" Grace looked to Robyn with the neutral expression she had practiced with for her FBI training. "No," Robyn grinned widely. "Is it Dean?" Robyn's eyes got wider and her smile split her face as Grace felt the heat radiate her cheeks. "IT'S DEAN!" "Go… To… Bed, Robyn." Grace said again as she rolled back over again. Robyn chuckled as she went to her side of the room and got ready for bed. As she slid beneath her bedding, Robyn switched off the lights. Hoping beyond hope for the chance in Hell Robyn would drop the subject, Grace squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to relax and go to sleep. "Naughty Dean dreams," Robyn softly chimed a moment before a pillow flew across Robyn's face from Grace's bed and hit the wall beside her. Robyn cackled softly, curled herself in her blankets, and closed her eyes, satisfied.
In the morning, Grace came back into the bedroom freshly showered after her jog. Walking over to where Robyn slept, she waved a cup of hot coffee under Robyn's nose. She heard Robyn inhale the slowly aroma before a hand warily crept out from underneath the blankets to grasp the mug. Sitting up groggily, her neon hair was a nest of disarray, Robyn glanced around the room sleepily before she looked to Grace, "What time is it?" "Seven o'clock," Grace replied as she pulled out her suitcase from under her bed and began to pack. Robyn looked down at the coffee in her hands then to Grace, "Wait… Seven… IN THE MORNING!?" Grace smiled broadly and nodded. Robyn looked to her friend like she'd gone insane, and turned to face Grace. "Care to explain?" Grace stopped what she was doing and looked to Robyn, "We've got to get a head start so we don't appear to be obviously tailing brothers." An eyebrow slowly raised on Robyn's face. "Come again?" "We're going to tail the brothers," Grace repeated. Robyn looked back down at her coffee mug regretfully as she put it on the nearby nightstand and then looked back to Grace, "And why would we do that?" Grace sighed, exasperated, "Because… They need us." Robyn simply blinked. "Without us," Grace continued as she ticked off each reason on a finger, "Rebecca AND Sam would be dead. Dean would be in jail. A shapeshifter would still be killing people. It's not like we have anything better to do during Winter Break other than binge watch shows. And… I wanna see the Weird World." Robyn blinked again as her sleepy brain processed the information. She shrugged and slid off the bed, "Okay." Grace sighed again, "Look, they're amateurs, and they completely ruined a crime scene, and… Did you just say 'okay'?" Nodding, Robyn picked up her bright red suitcase and put it on her bed. As she opened it, she began to pack, "Yup. You're right." Grace smiled triumphantly, "Of course I am."
Robyn and Grace were almost finished packing the Escalade when Dean stumbled out of the house to the Impala with a cup of coffee in one hand and a black duffel bag in the other. Tossing the duffel bag into the backseat as he leaned in through the window, Dean reemerged with a map that he spread over the hood of the car. He seemed oblivious to the two women as he sipped from his cup of coffee. A few moments later, Sam walked out of the house carrying a duffel bag of his own and talked softly to Rebecca. Grace smiled fondly at her friend from a distance, glad that she was now safe. As Rebecca pulled Sam into a hug, Robyn nudged Grace, "And that's our cue to go before it gets too mushy and shit." Grace nodded and climbed into the passenger side as Robyn hastily rounded the Escalade and got in the driver's side. Quietly, the Escalade purred to life as Robyn turned the keys and put the vehicle into drive. As they drove away, Grace rolled down her window and waved to her friend.
Robyn drove a few miles before they pulled into an I-Hop. As Robyn parked the car, Grace looked to her confused, "I thought we agreed to tail them." With a big smile, Robyn looked to her friend with a pretend look of hurt, "Oh, ye of little faith…" A moment later, Robyn produced her PalmPilot from out of the glove compartment. She then showed Grace a tiny red heart moving over the image of a map on the screen. "On one of my trips between loading the car… I may… Or may not… Have put a tracker on their car." Grace's smile matched her friend's. "So… Pancakes or waffles?"
