While You Were Away
NOTE: I don't own Supernatural. This takes place between seasons 3 and 4.
Ch1: He's Back
Sam awoke to a throbbing pain in his head. It was probably from all the alcohol, or maybe it was from the day before when he had tried to exercise that demon with Ruby.
"I promise, the more you practice and the better you get, the less it will hurt," she had said as she handed him the bottle of Aspirin.
"Yeah well, so far that hasn't really been the case," Sam had snapped back as he poured four pills into his large hand.
"Like I said practice…"
"Yeah I heard what you said Ruby!" Sam took a pause only to take a swig of his Bourbon and down the white painkillers.
"Ok then, let's keep at it."
Sam got up from the dirty floor of the old house he had been squatting in for almost two weeks now and stretched his arms. He groaned as he popped his shoulders, then made his way to the bathroom. If possible, the bathroom was worse than the room Sam was sleeping in. There were no shower curtains, the tub had an orange ring that ran all the way around the inside of it and the tub itself was stained pale yellow. The sink hung onto the wall and it too was yellow with the faucets and spout covered in rust. There was one round mirror that hung above the sink, a small crack ran from the top right corner and snaked its way down to the other end. Like all the other walls in the house, they were covered in grime and the tile below was cracked and molding. Sam turned the faucets and after a good deal of muscle was put into it, they squeaked in protest. Pale orange liquid poured from the spout freely. Sam waited for the water to clear up a bit, and then put his hands under the cold running water and threw it onto his face. He turned the faucets again to stop the flow and closed his eyes. Sam didn't want to see himself in the mirror, he knew he must look like mulled over and spat out crap. Between the drinking, the fighting, and the crying himself to sleep and an occasional unwanted outburst of tears throughout the day, he couldn't imagine he looked even halfway decent. Slowly Sam opened his eyes and chanced a look in the mirror. Nothing would prepare him for what he saw. He looked completely and utterly…normal. No dark circles or red puffy swollen eyes. Even his hair looked pretty decent and the stubble that he had been letting go was…gone. Sam had to take a double take at his reflection. He still looked normal. Eventually he pulled his shocked face from the mirror and made his way into the kitchen.
There wasn't much in the room, other than a table and a few counters and cupboards with either doors hanging open, or completely gone. The walls were covered with the same filth as the bathroom and his "bedroom" causing whatever color they had been at one point, to turn a muddy brown. On the table sat Sam's bottle of Bourbon, some weapons, and his Aspirin. Sam grabbed the bottle, popped open the lid, poured pills into his hand, took a long swig of his drink, and swallowed. He sighed. The Bourbon burnt going down, but it was a welcoming feeling to him. He took another large sip of the Bourbon closing his eyes as he felt the warmth of the alcohol course through him.
There was a sudden pounding that interrupted his drinking session. He paused. Another loud pounding sounded. It was coming from the front door of the shithole that Sam was occupying. He sighed heavily, rolled his eyes, and stomped off to see who was interfering with his numbing process.
"Ruby, how many times do I have to tell you, just come in through…"
"Uh, Sam?"
When Sam had opened the door, he didn't expect to see who was on the other side. His eyes widened, his heart began to race, and for a minute he thought he was going to pass out.
"Dean?" what came out of his mouth was barely a whisper. Dean looked at him puzzled by Sam's reaction. Before anyone could say anything else, Sam dug into his jacket pocket and whipped out his flask of Holy water. He quickly unscrewed the lid and threw the liquid into Dean's face. His older brother spat out a mouthful of water and wiped his eyes.
"Sam, what the f…"
Sam grabbed Dean and sliced his left arm with the bowie knife that had been in his pants pocket. Dean cussed and held his arm, covering his wound from sight.
"Let me see it," Sam replied trying to get a look at the cut.
"Sam, are you out of your fucking mind?!"
"Let me see your arm!"
Dean moved his hand from the cut and Sam sighed with relief as red liquid gathered up from the fresh wound and streamed down his arm. Without warning, Sam grabbed his brother into a tight embrace.
"Sam, seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?" Sam didn't let go right away. He was afraid that if he did, his older brother would vanish and this all would have been some crazy dream or hallucination. Slowly, Sam unraveled his arms from around Dean and took a step back. He kept one hand on his brother's shoulder.
"I can't believe you're back," He exclaimed with a smile, tears starting to well up in his hazel eyes "it feels like it's been forever."
"Well, it was only maybe twenty minutes," Dean looked at his brother perplexed. Sam ran his hand down his face.
"Wait, what? Twenty minutes? Dude you've been gone for almost two months."
"Ok seriously, what's up with the dog left home alone act? I was seriously only gone twenty minutes."
"You went to Hell Dean. I – I saw you, Lilith made me watch as the Hellhounds..." Sam wasn't ready to talk about what he had witnessed just yet, not unless he was yelling about it while intoxicated anyways.
Dean looked at his younger brother as if he was speaking to him in a foreign language.
"Lilith? Lilith is dead Sam, you killed her remember?"
"What?"
"I gotta say," Dean chuckled as he made his way into the house "you were pretty badass. I mean I thought you decapitating Gordon with the razor wire was impressive..." Dean whistled.
"I killed Lilith?"
Dean scoffed. "Understatement. You tore that bitch to pieces and took her head clean off."
Sam stared at his brother who had started to clean up the cut Sam had given him.
"But Ruby said…and you – I saw you…"
"Did you hit your head the few minutes I was gone?" Dean questioned as he pressed a cloth to his arm. He winced. "While you were going all Chainsaw Massacre on Queen Bitch, I found Ruby and she found her knife in her lungs. I always hated that skank."
"You killed Ruby?! Dean, she was helping us! Why can't you accept that she wasn't evil?"
"How many times do I have to say this Sam, she's a demon, no such thing as a good one. A demon is a demon is a demon. She doesn't know how to not be an evil manipulative bitch."
Sam opened his mouth to fight, but decided against it. If it was between him having Ruby or having Dean, he would take Dean and all his stubborn black and white point of view glory. It was silent between the two as Dean finished patching himself up. He reached over the table and grabbed the bottle of Bourbon.
"Oh nice, thanks Sam."
"What?"
"You drank my entire bottle. Well I guess that explains things, you didn't injure yourself, you're drunk."
"What? No I'm not," Sam protested.
"Were you in my Aspirin too? Fuck Sam, what the hell?"
"Your Aspirin?"
"Uh yeah, for the claw marks in my arm from that last hunt," Dean replied in an 'obviously' manner.
Sam stood thinking hard about everything. Hadn't his older brother been torn to ribbons while he was forced by Lilith to watch? Hadn't he and Bobby buried him and put up a poorly made grave mark and a promise by a distraught Sam that he would bring him back? Wasn't Ruby coaching him on how to kill Lilith and stop her from breaking the seals and get a little payback for sending his brother to Hell? Suddenly feeling light-headed, Sam sat at one of the old chairs at the table. His mouth hung open and he stared ahead at one of the grime covered walls in the kitchen.
"Sam? Helllooo earth to Sam Winchester," Dean waved his hand in front of Sam's non-responsive face. "Dude, you're starting to weird me out."
"Sorry," Sam replied shaking his head pulling himself from his thoughts. "Sorry I just – never mind."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Sam gave his big brother a reassuring smile.
"Alrighty then." Dean reached into the back pocket of his torn up jeans and pulled out a rolled up newspaper, slapping it down in front of his brother on the table. "Berkeley California, four men in the last three weeks have been found, there skin completely missing. Police are saying It's some psycho with a skin fetish who's seen Silence of the Lambs too many times."
"Huh."
"Poor moronic cops, what would the world do without us, huh Sammy?" Dean smiled at his little brother who in returned scoffed.
"So, what are you thinking?"
"Not too sure yet," Dean admitted. "But whatever it is, it's definitely something worth looking into. I mean it's not every day you hear about Hannibal lector, right?"
"I guess."
"What do ya say Sammy, you ready to gank that S.O.B?"
Sam nodded his head, a small grin flashed on his face. He didn't want to answer in words, afraid that he would sound too excited and Dean would start questioning him again or look at him like he had lost his last marble. It wasn't often that Sam showed any kind of excitement about a case, he just followed Dean and did the research. However this time, he couldn't wait to get out of this shitty place and hit the road riding shotgun. He could have sworn that it had been ages since he went on a good old fashion monster hunt with his big brother. Quickly, but not too quickly as to arouse suspicion, Sam began to shove the weapons that had been on the table into the green beat up duffel bag they used to transport them. He reached over to grab the Aspirin bottle too, just to toss it into his jacket pocket as to get it out of the way, when Dean grabbed it first.
"Hands off of my candy," he snapped. Sam put his hands up in surrender and moved on to pack up all his clothes and laptop. While he rolled up dirty shirts and pants and stuffed them into his backpack, a sudden realization came over his face. He looked around the room, eyes scanning mostly the floor.
"Hey Dean?" Sam called out to his brother.
"Yeah?" Dean appeared in the doorway.
"Where are your things? I mean where are your clothes and your bags…where did you sleep?" Sam's questioning eyes met his brother's.
"I packed up already," he shrugged "it's all in the car. I slept on the other side of the room. It's not like it isn't big enough."
Sam looked around the room again trying to recall their sleeping arrangements. Slowly, he nodded his head and continued packing.
A few minutes later, Sam had his laptop bag slung over his left shoulder and his backpack full of clothes over his right. When he entered the kitchen, he saw Dean had already snatched up their green duffel.
"Alright, you ready to blow this Popsicle stand?" Dean asked turning to face Sam.
"God yes," Sam answered not bothering to hide the relief he felt knowing that soon he would be leaving this place for good. He didn't take one look back as he marched through the hall towards the front of the house. Sam practically ripped the door from its hinges. A warm breeze hit his face and he had to shield his eyes from the hot light of the sun. The air, a little too warm as it may be, felt somehow foreign and comfortable. Sam took a deep breath, closing his eyes, and then let out slowly and deeply.
"Anytime you're ready Pocahontas," Dean called out. The younger Winchester opened his eyes again to see his brother load the green bag into the trunk of the Impala. Finding his feet again, Sam joined him, adding his bags. He opened his mouth to apologize for his moment of Zen, but decided against it. His brother would probably just tease him some more if he said anything. He closed his mouth and headed for the passenger side of the car. Dean climbed into the driver's side, turned the key, blast the mullet rock music, revved up Baby's engine, and pulled away. Sam was grateful to watch the old shambled house disappearing in the passenger side mirror.
Ch2: Ruby?
"Sam, wake up," a feminine voice rang out. It didn't take long for Sam to identify it as Ruby's. Her brown eyes were the size of saucers and her lips were twisted into a frown. "Sam…Sam…Sammy!"
Sam's eyes flew open and he catapulted himself up from the passenger side of the Impala. His breathing heavy and his eyes wide. He looked over to see his brother staring over nervously at him.
"Sorry to interrupt your sugar plum fairy dreams, but I thought we should stop and grab a bite."
"Yeah," Sam swallowed. "Yeah sure." Dean nodded and waited for his brother to start climbing out of the car before he did himself. Sam looked around at his surroundings trying to pull himself fully awake. It was a cute town, with shops that lined both sides of the street and not far off he could hear the ocean. "Where are we?" he asked turning to his brother.
"Monterey California," Dean answered with a smile.
"Monterey? What are we doing here?"
Dean shrugged. "I thought it would be a nice change is all. I have only ever drove through here maybe once before. Besides, it's not far from the job."
It hadn't been Sam's first time either. He remembered taking a mini vacation with Jessica to Monterey back when he was in college and she was alive. He found himself smiling at the memory and then quickly discarded it, clearing his throat.
"So, where to?"
Dean's eyes fell on a little diner across the street. "How about there?" he pointed.
The inside looked like almost every other diner that he had ever stepped foot in, and he had been in a lot of them.
There were tables and booths in one section, all with a royal blue mock leather material lining the seats. The tables were all white and Sam guessed they were more or less made out of plastic. Over at the counter, there was a row of six barstools all with the same royal blue mock leather and the counters were white like the tables. The walls were tiles that made a mosaic of sea creatures all around.
"Welcome boys, go on ahead and sit wherever you like. I will be with you shortly." A portly woman called out with a smile to the Winchesters. Dean smiled back and he and Sam sat themselves at a table looking out the front window. A few minutes later, the woman was standing at their table, handing out menus. "My name is Jeanie and I will be your server. Can I get you anything to drink?" she asked. Sam placed her in her mid to late fifties. Her greying blond hair was pulled back in a high tight ponytail and even he felt her make-up looked a bit much.
"Well Jeanie, I will take the best beer you got," Dean answered her with a smirk.
"A water for me, thanks."
"Really? A water? What are you Grandma Jo?" Dean teased his little brother when the waitress had left. Sam ignored Dean's comment.
"Here you are, are you ready to order?" The waitress asked as she dropped off the drinks a few minutes later.
"I believe we are," Dean answered. She pulled out a pad from the apron she wore around her waist, her long fuchsia nails tapped the paper as she jotted down their orders. Dean was getting a bacon cheese burger, extra onions extra bacon, while Sam had settled on the house salad.
Once they were done, they thanked the waitress and started out.
"Hey before we take off again, I'm gonna go hit the head." Dean announced. Sam nodded to show he understood and went to stand outside the diner. As he was taking in the sights, he saw someone on the other side of the street. She appeared to be calling out to someone, although there was no sound coming from her that Sam could hear and no one seemed to be paying attention. Squinting in her direction trying to read her lips, Sam found himself moving closer to the street to get to her. The closer he got, the more he started to recognize her.
"Ruby?" He asked. She continued to call out silently to him.
"Ruby?"
Sam whirled around surprised by a voice that was coming from behind him. He quickly tried to cover the look of fear on his face, but eased up when he found it was just Dean.
"Dean, hey…"
"Did you say Ruby?" Dean asked ignoring his brother.
"I…um…." Sam tried to find what to say that wouldn't make his brother think that he was insane. "Yeah I thought…there was a girl who looked like Ruby. Clearly she wasn't though," Sam said trying to sound convincing. Dean glared at him.
"I told you, I iced that bitch," he said coldly.
"Yeah, yeah no I know," Sam fumbled. Dean gave him one last look before heading towards the car. Sam turned back around to look at where he had seen Ruby and saw no one there. He shook his head at himself and joined his brother at the Impala.
Ch3: Research and Reruns
"Man I can see why you came out to California. Nice weather, good food, and hot chicks."
"I came out to California so that I can could go to College," Sam responded.
"You know Sammy, sometimes I wonder if you're even a guy," Dean teased taking a quick glance at his brother in the passenger seat.
"I'm just not a dog, like you," Sam retorted with a quick grin, which Dean returned. He placed his head on the window and peered out at the scenery as his brother drove on.
Although he would never admit it, especially to Dean, he missed the playful banters he and his brother use to have. It felt like it had been years since they had joked around together. It seemed that for the last year Dean had two reactions to Sam; putting on a bravado act and being an ass, or yelling at Sam for trying to save his life. He didn't blame his brother for how he acted. Since as long as he could remember, putting on a front was how Dean tried to cover up his fears and protecting his little brother was all he knew needed to be done with his life. What frustrated Sam was that his brother hadn't let him help. Anytime he had a suggestion, Dean shot it down due to the risks being too high for Sam's life. He didn't understand why his brother was so down on himself, why he felt that he should be treated like less than Sam or anyone else. That Dean's life meant nothing in comparison to his. Their dad had been tough on them, Dean especially, but still it seemed no one was harder on Dean than Dean himself. Sam had been feeling pretty defeated as well. He had tried so hard to save Dean, to break that deal, but… he had? He could have sworn he watched helplessly as his big brother was dragged to Hell, yet here Dean was sitting next to him in the Impala singing along to Metallica. His head began to pound again. Something wasn't right, or at least something felt off to the younger Winchester.
"Hey, Alice, you're due back from Wonderland."
Sam shook his head, realizing he had once again been lost in thought. "What?"
"I'm going to go check us in, you move Baby to a spot."
"You want me to move the car?" Sam asked surprised.
"Yeah," Dean responded raising an eyebrow. Sam got out of the passenger side and went around to sit in the driver's side. He nodded to his brother and took off to find a place to park. The hotel was only a two story building and there weren't many rooms which also meant there weren't a lot of places to park. After finding a spot further down the lot, Sam was joined by Dean who waved two key cards in front of him. He followed his brother up the stairs and down a hallway until he stopped at a door. All the doors were a pale blue with peeling paint and a rusty number nailed to it. Dean shouldered his way into the room that was numbered 37 and turned on the lights. The inside didn't look much better than the outside. The walls were the same pale blue as the door and the carpet was a range of blues, greens, and greys in an assortment of shapes. There were two queen size beds with little nightstands, both with a hideous floral bedspread. A television sat on a dresser on the opposite side of the beds and a mini fridge stood next to it. It was far from pretty, but anything was better than where they had been squatting. At least, that was Sam's thought. Once they had done a quick inspection of the room, they went back to the Impala to get their bags. Sam grabbed his backpack and his computer, while Dean grabbed his clothes bag and the duffel.
Once they were inside, Dean flopped down on the bed closest to the door and sighed. Meanwhile, Sam started to set up his laptop on the little table, taking a seat in one of the blue chairs.
"Dude, seriously?" Dean whined looking over at his little brother.
"What?" Sam shrugged.
"You're going to do research, now?"
"Um...yeah."
"Nerd," Dean commented under his breath.
Sam shook his head and turned back to his computer. While he waited for it to load up, he peered over the top of the laptop to see Dean. He watched as his brother channel surfed through the hotel television, finally settling on flipping between a show about fixing up cars and a Chuck Norris movie that he had seen at least a million times already. Sam never could understand how Dean could watch the same thing over and over again. He himself could watch something once at the most twice, but Dean had a habit of watching a movie until he could quote it word for word.
A few hours had gone by and Dean had made a "grub run" and had gone back to surfing channels. Once he found nothing on, he got up and made his way into the bathroom for a shower. Sam was still sitting at his station with his eyes glued to his laptop, his beer Dean had got for him barely touched.
"You have been at it for hours, have you found anything?" Dean asked as he reemerged from the bathroom. Steam floating out after him.
"As a matter of a fact, I did." Sam looked over at Dean, black dots danced through is vision and the throbbing in his head had returned.
"And? Are you going to share with the rest of the class?" Dean questioned meeting Sam's eyes.
"So all vics were male and all of them were last seen around the same place."
"Strip club," Dean asked his eyes lighting up.
"Uh close…Knight Stay," Sam responded.
"Which is…?"
"A hotel. A shady rent by the hour or the night kinda hotel," Sam described. Dean nodded his head to show that he understood what Sam was getting at.
"The kind where guys check in to spend some quality with women who aren't their ball and chain," Dean replied. Sam moved his hand in Dean's direction as to say "correct." "Alright, so female is looking like our winner. The question is female what?"
"Exactly. And as far as that 'what' is concerned, I have nothing. I mean the paper said that their flesh was missing right? So that kinda narrows it down a bit. I'm thinking a rougaru."
Dean's face crinkled up "Nah, it seems too planned out to be a rougaru. They just eat whatever is easiest and run."
Sam sighed. "True."
"Look why don't you just call it a night and we'll play FBI at that Stay place tomorrow."
Sam looked at the screen and then back to his brother nodding "yeah alright."
Once the laptop had been shut down and Sam was in his sweatpants and black V-neck, he crawled into the unoccupied bed. The last thing he could remember was the light on the nightstand going off and his brother saying good night.
Sam woke up, the throbbing in his head almost unbearable. He put his fingers to his temples and tried to gently massage it. Nothing. He wanted to take some Aspirin for it, but remembered that Dean had snatched up the bottle and put it god knows where. Sam kicked off the covers and padded over to Dean's bag and the duffel. If they were going to be somewhere, it was probably here. Quietly, Sam began to unzip Dean's bag and go through it. There wasn't much of anything in it, including the pills. He did the same for the duffel bag and got equal results. He wasn't going to wake his brother over a headache, but he needed something to take down the pain if he wanted to get some sleep. Sam's eyes shifted from Dean to the car keys and as stealthily as possible, he snatched them up and tiptoed to the front door of the hotel. With one last look at his brother, Sam slid out and headed for the Impala.
The night air was chilly and the sky was still clouded, with only a few stars visible. Sam made his way down the stairs and to the car, careful not to wake any of the other guests. He looked to see if there were any bystanders around, and once the coast was clear, he opened the trunk. The Impala's trunk was also the Winchester's arsenal and so they were very careful when opening it. He began to rummage through the various weapons and hodgepodge of items, when his eyes fell on a bottle. He grabbed for it, popped it open, and cussed when he found it was empty. After a bit more digging, Sam closed up the trunk and tried going through the car. He looked in the glove department, the back seat, and anywhere else a bottle of painkillers might be.
"Sam!"
Sam spun around to see Ruby again. A look of terror still on her face.
"What the hell?" Sam questioned looking at her.
"Sam?"
Sam looked over to see his brother staring at him. He turned around again at where he had seen Ruby. She had vanished.
"I – I was looking for something for my headache…" Sam stopped. His headache was gone.
Ch 4: Room 14
Once back inside, Dean fished around in his jacket pocket while Sam went to sit on the edge of his bed. His head in his hands.
"Here," Dean called out tossing his little brother the bottle of Aspirin. Sam thanked him, grabbed four pills, and when he was sure that Dean wasn't looking, he stuffed them into his sweatpants pocket. Dean joined him, sitting on the end of his own bed facing his brother. "What's going on Sam?" he asked breaking the silence.
"Just a headache," Sam shrugged.
"Come on man," Dean protested.
Sam sighed. He wasn't really in the mood to go over this with him right now. Especially since he was still trying to figure it out himself. "I don't know."
"I mean the headaches, the spacing out, the drinking, the pill popping, calling out to Ruby….and you kinda freaked me out back at that house the other day."
Sam's eyes, which had been glued to the Aspirin bottle he held in his hands, now moved up to meet his brother's.
"I know. I'm sorry, Dean."
When nothing else was said, Dean got up, walked over to the fridge, grabbed two beers, and rejoined his brother. He popped open both lids and handed one to Sam. Sam took a big swig and then placed it on his nightstand. Unsure of what else to do and wanting to avoid his big brother for the rest of the night, he climbed back into bed and rolled over so that he faced away from Dean.
His brother had some good points. Headaches were pretty common for Sam, but seeing things that weren't there? Was that due to the pain of the headache or was it something more? And why Ruby? Sure she had been a friend, a help, and in a twisted kinda way, a comfort.
Some time had passed by and the sound of Dean's footsteps moving from his bed to the restroom to the fridge and back to the bed again was the only sound. Sam heard the wresting of the covers and his brother's cussing of how itchy the blanket was, and then snoring. Sam shifted so that he was laying on his back with one hand put up to his head. He lay awake like that for hours before finally slipping into an uneasy sleep.
The next morning, Sam woke up and got a later start on the day then he would have liked. Once they had both thrown on their F.B.I suits and ties, they made their way to the Night's Stay to question the innkeeper. However, there was a surprise waiting for them when they arrived.
The hotel was roped off with yellow crime scene tape and three cop cars and an ambulance were the only cars in the parking lot. Dean pulled the Impala to park across the way.
"What the fuck?" He asked looking out of the passenger side window at all the commotion going on across the way. Sam sighed. He was always nervous when he and Dean had to deal with the law. Not only were they both pretending to be F.B.I, which can already land them into some serious trouble should anyone find out, but Dean had been wanted by the real F.B.I. Granted they had hoped some of that could have been taken care of once they had more or less become allies with Agent Hendrickson, but that had been short lived. Another work of Lilith's. Dean rolled his eyes checked his fake ID, which he stowed in the hidden pocket of his jacket, and started off towards the Inn. Sam quickly followed, falling into line right beside his brother.
As the boys made their way up and over to the lobby, they were greeted by an officer. He held up a hand as to stop the Winchesters from proceeding. Both Sam and Dean gave their best "F.B.I faces" and pulled out their badges.
"Agent Hetfield and Agent Young," Dean introduced. The officer eyed their badges a little too long for Sam's comfort, but nodded in approval. Sam thanked the officer and they continued into the lobby.
It was a small surprisingly nice looking lobby, nicer than most that either Winchester had come across in a while. There was a red leather couch with a matching loveseat. The carpet was an off white, probably not the best color for a hotel lobby, and a tall floor lamp. A mahogany end table with various magazines stack on top of each other stood between the couch and loveseat. A matching coffee table with a glass top was laid out in front of the couch. Off to the right of the building, was the check in desk that was made of stone with a rack of brochures standing next to it. The woman who stood behind the counter appeared to be in her early-thirties. Her long red hair hung down in curls to the mid of her back. The woman's grey eyes fell on both boys and she crossed her arms.
"I'm sorry gentlemen, if you couldn't tell from all of the guys in uniform outside, we are currently not open."
"F.B.I," Sam replied pulling out his badge. She looked them both up and down, taking a longer look at Dean who was standing next to his brother, no badge in hand. Sam cleared his throat snapping his brother out of the gutter that was his mind and bringing him back to reality. Dean pulled out his badge as well and flashed the woman a smile. She returned the smile and then turned back to face Sam.
"I'm sure I can guess why you are here. What do you want to know?"
"We wanted to talk to you about the murders that have been occurring in your…ahem…establishment."
"Well I don't know much about them. I sent word to the innkeeper about all of this. He's gone to France for a few weeks. He sent me returned a message saying he was on his way back to deal with this. Want to wait and talk to him?"
"No ma'am that won't be necessary. We just would like to know who was working that night."
"You're looking at her," she replied arms still crossed.
"Do you remember checking in Jack Coleman?"
"I don't know them by name."
"OK, did you hear any…unusual sounds coming from his room?"
"What kind of sick person do you think I am?" she asked taken aback. "I don't stand with my ear pressed to people's doors."
"No no I know I just mean…" Sam was trying desperately to recover himself.
"Any complaints from any of your guests?" Dean asked stepping in.
"I did have one. She said there was some loud banging and a woman's voice. I brushed it off and asked her what she expected in a rent by the night hotel."
"Do you know if the guy had been alone? Did he check in for one?"
The woman went back around the desk to the computer.
"What was this guy's name again?"
"Jack Coleman."
After some typing and clicking, the woman nodded. "Yes, checked in as one in room 14."
"But the guest reported hearing banging and a WOMAN'S voice, right?" Sam asked.
"Right…" The front desk agent said.
"Did you see a woman going into the room at any point that night?"
"No."
"Is there anything else you can remember about that night?" Sam asked.
The woman shook her head. "Sorry, nope."
The boys thanked her, and with one last flirtatious smile at the front desk agent from Dean, they marched off to investigate the room.
As they were about to enter, a gurney with a sheet was being pushed out.
"Hold up there a sec," Dean put a hand out to stop the gurney operator. He flashed him his badge, replaced it, and pulled up the sheet. Sam and Dean both eyed what was left of the man. The skin was peeled from the body, displaying bloody innards and bulging glazed over eyes. Dean pulled the sheet down and motioned for the man to continue on. The gurney was pushed away and Sam and Dean, sliding under more yellow tape, made their way into the room.