Sam and Dean had be working with the British Men of Letter's for a couple of weeks now. Sam wasn't all that thrilled to be working with them even if he had been the one to agree and to talk Dean into working with them too. Sam saw it as a necessary inconvenience. Sam didn't trust them and he probably never would but the resources and knowledge they had was undeniable.
Dean had asked Sam to pick a side and he had. Although Dean might not have seen it that way, Sam was picking Dean's side. Sam hadn't tried to run from hunting in a long time and he had given up on the idea of a normal life but what Mary had said had resonated with Sam. It wasn't Mary saying that it could help them to get out that had swayed him, it was the idea of being safe. Sam had lost count of how many times he'd had to face losing his brother and they'd both lost so many loved one's. Sam was painfully reminded about the dangers of the job when Dean had been targeted by that witch so recently. He'd watched his brother gradually forgot everything until he slowly started to disappear all together. Sam had meant what he said, watching his brother slowly become 'not Dean' anymore had been worse than seeing him die violently. It was worse because he had to slowly watch Dean fade away.
Sam could live without an apple pie life but he didn't want to live without Dean. The British Men of Letter's may have been shifty as hell but they were good at what they did. The idea of wiping out all of the dangerous creatures that were hurting people across America should seem improbable and far fetched but the British Men of Letter's actually made is seem logical and likely.
So Sam had picked a side and he'd picked Dean. He'd picked working with a bunch of ass's that he didn't trust as long as it meant getting rid of the creature's that constantly threatened to kill his big brother and other innocent people.
Sam also knew that there was a part of him that was desperate to gain his mother's approval and to spend more time with her even if was through working with the British chapter.
The role he and Dean had taken in regards to Mary was unexpected. When they were growing up, Dean had hung onto John's every word. He'd have followed him off the edge of cliff and had unwavering trust in him. Sam was different. Sam saw John's flaws completely and refused to fall in line. Constantly fighting for his voice and rebelling against his father. Dean had seen more of John's flaws after his death and would now admit that he wasn't exactly the father of the year but back then, not a bad word could be said about their dad in Dean's eye's. Sam saw the way John had neglected them and mistreated them from the start and Dean always ended up as the mediator between Sam and their Dad.
Considering how much Dean had idolized the idea of Mary he had saved from when he was four, Sam would have expected it to be similar with their mom but the roles had actually kind of reversed. Although Sam had been hurt to find out that Mary had worked with the organisation who had physically and psychologically tortured him, he was so quick to let it go. If he was honest with himself, Sam would probably forgive Mary even if she'd been the one on the other end of that blow torch but Dean was a different story. He seemed to be clearly aware of Mary's short comings and he wasn't so quick to want to forgive or forget. Dean wasn't afraid to voice his anger and frustration towards Mary either. What he wasn't so quick to show was the hurt he felt but Sam saw it anyway because he knew Dean. So the role's had reversed and he'd become the mediator.
Dean had wanted Sam to pick a side but what he didn't seem to realize was that he was always on Dean's side but it was for Dean as much as it was himself. He tried to play the middle with Dean and Cas because Cas is Dean's best friend and the closest person he has beside's Sam and Sam didn't want them to fight and avoid making up because they were both too stubborn. Dean needed Cas and Sam was just trying to show him that Cas was only trying to save their lives, something that Dean had done a thousand times.
Sam also knew what it was like to argue with a parent and to cut off ties with them. Sam had gone years away from his family at Stanford and although he cherished the memories from Stanford with Jess and his friends, he often wished he could get that time back with his family.
Sam had been willing to freeze Mary out for a while because he was hurt too but unlike Dean, Sam was not open to cutting off ties with Mary permanently. Sam had felt so much guilt after their dad died. He'd hated himself for picking a fight with John right before they lost him. He'd had to come to terms with that being the last thing that happened between them and it'd been tough. He didn't want that for Dean. Sam prayed to a God he was more than aware, probably wasn't listening, that nothing bad happened to Mary but Sam wasn't stupid. He knew there was no guarantee's with hunting and he didn't want something to happen to Mary and Dean having to deal with the same regrets he felt. Sam wasn't playing the middle, he just wanted all of the people he cared about to be happy. Especially Dean.
Sam hoped that Dean understood that. Dean had been a lot more accepting of working with BMoL than he'd thought he would be so he hoped that he did.
The only problem was, that after working with the British Men of Letter's for only a couple of weeks, Sam was already starting to doubt that decision. The case with Claire had only made the already existing bell ringing in his head, louder. Mick had killed that kid too. An innocent girl who was a victim, not a monster. Sam would always fight to save someone before having to kill them. He saw that the British Men of Letter's were not the same. Things were black and white for them and anything supernatural was to be killed. He wondered just how far that went.
Sam did think that he could see the good in Mick. He didn't seems as cold as Ketch and he genuinely seemed to want Claire to be okay. Sam didn't think Mick was a bad guy. He was just stuck in his ways. Years ago, Dean had believed that all supernatural creature's were evil, no exception but he'd realized that there was a grey area and never looked back. Sam thought he could see Mick coming around to their way of thinking but Sam wasn't so sure about the rest of the organization. He was starting to think they were more trouble than they were useful. He hadn't told Dean because there hadn't been anything to tell him other than what he already knew. There hadn't been anything to suggest that the organisation was up to something other than hunting monster's but it was a gut feeling.
Sam was the one who'd convinced Dean that working with them could be useful so he didn't want to just start spouting off to Dean about how he had a bad feeling about them. Sam considered that he could be paranoid. He'd been burned once (literally) by the BMoL and it was probably just that in the back of his head along with the recent hunt that was causing his concerns. Except, Sam knew not to ignore gut feelings and the images of the pale, lifeless body an innocent girl clouded his head.
So that's what brought Sam to the BMoL base right now. He'd come over here on the pretense of visiting Mary. It wasn't a complete lie because he did want to see his mom but he also had plans to figure out if there was any real foundation for his doubts. He knew the British Men of Letter's were narrow sighted but he needed to know if there were bigger worries for him and Dean to consider regarding the organization.
It stung a little when Sam thought about the fact that Mary was using the British Men of Letter's base as a home between hunts, instead of using the bunker but Sam shook it off as he saw Mary approaching.
"Hey Sam", greeted Mary.
"Hey", replied Sam as Mary guided them through the base.
"I haven't long since got back from a hunt so I need to get cleaned up. Do you want to talk to Mick or something whilst I shower?" asked Mary.
This was easier than Sam had expected. He thought he'd have to use an excuse to separate from Mary for a little while and snoop around but Mary was giving him an easy out.
"Is there a canteen or something in this place? I could really do with some food and coffee", questioned Sam earnestly.
"Yeah sure, I'll drop you off at the canteen and then go and clean up and meet you back there", agreed Mary.
Mary guided Sam through the clinical corridors and Sam made sure to take note of the doors and signs they passed. Mary finally stopped in front of a pair of metal doors, one propped open to reveal a canteen that actually reminded Sam of a very polished hospital canteen.
"I'll see you in a minute", smiled Mary.
Sam waited until he thought Mary would be out of sight before leaving the canteen. He made his way down the corridor and saw someone wearing a men of Letter's key card that he figured could probably get him in most parts of this base. As the employee got closer, Sam made a point of seeming focused on his phone.
"Geez, sorry! Wasn't looking where I was going", apologized Sam as he collided with the guy, swiping and pocketing the key card as he did.
"Who are you?" Queried the British man as he patted down his suit.
"I'm a hunter. A hunter who's working with you guys. I was just looking for a bathroom", explained Sam.
"We'll it's that way", told the man begrudgingly.
"Thanks", smiled Sam as he quickly walked away from the man with the key card at the ready.
Sam hurried through the corridors and stopped outside a door. He saw rows of filing cabinets through the small window on the door. He swiped the card and the door clicked open.
Sam hurriedly picked the lock of one of the first cabinets he came too and flipped through the files. They seemed to be files on their employee's. Sam decided to look for the files of the employees that he knew; Ketch and Mick.
Sam pulled out Mick's file. Apparently he was a legacy. His father and grandfather both being Men of Letter's. He was a scholar. Studied Linguistics and Classics at Cambridge University in London. Sam wasn't especially surprised. Mick obviously wasn't one to get his hands dirty before their recent encounter but he had the brains and that's how this organisation seemed to work. The likes of Mick would do the research and the development of weapons where as the likes of Ketch would do the dirty work.
Sam moved on to Ketch's file quickly, aware of the time he'd been gone. Ketch was a legacy too and in the beginning his father was the only reason he'd been apart of the organisation. There'd been concerns about him. Ketch had apparently shown signs of explosive and violent behavior from the start and the Men of Letter's had seen him as a liability but his father was one of the most respected men of the organisation so they had trained him. Channeled his violence into hunting down supernatural creatures. According to the file, Ketch had exceeded their expectations and had become their most capable hunter. The British Men of Letter's had put him in charge of the field work, he was the head of their team of hunters and got results. He was smart too so he seemed to bridge the gap between their hunter's and the Men in suits. He was the only hunter to be apart of the higher management among the organisation.
Ketch's file was thick, full of notes and pictures from successful cases. Sam fanned through the gruesome photo's. Sam's eye's scanned the photos and his heart seemed to jump in his chest.
Sam recognized a young woman in one of the photos.
Magda.
Sam felt anger bubble up inside him. Ketch had killed Magda. An innocent human who just so happened to have psychic abilities. She may have hurt two people but she never meant too. The poor girl was abused by her mother and was only trying to reach out for help. She didn't deserve this. Didn't deserve to be killed in some grimy rest stop bathroom. In the photo Magda was on the tiled floor, face slack and wearing a shocked expression with blood pooling underneath her and a sickening bullet wound in the middle of her forehead.
Not wanting to look at the picture any longer, Sam looked through some more to see if he could find anymore damning evidence.
Sam found bloody photos of the guards from the prison they'd been kept it. All of them clearly dead. More of Ketch's handiwork. They weren't evil or monsters. They were just doing their jobs. As far as they were concerned, he and Dean were dangerous criminals. They had done nothing to warrant a death sentence.
Sam put aside the file, having seen enough. His curiosity peeked and he decided to look for a file on Toni. Just as he was about to close the J-N labelled cabinet, a file tab caught his attention. . It was a coincidence. It had to be, so why did Sam's stomach feel like it was doing somersaults? To prove to himself that he was being crazy, Sam picked up the file and opened it.
A picture of a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes was stapled to the corner of some paper. Jess. She looked a little older than his Jess but it was her non the less. As beautiful and bright as ever, even in a photograph. Sam held his breath, mind foggy with confusion as the file slipped out of his hands, crashing and scattering the contents on the steel flooring. Sam quickly gathered the file and shoved Jess's and Ketch's file inside his coat as he made his way out of the room and back to the canteen.
As Sam walked the corridors, his mind went into overdrive. The file was Jess's and if it was real, she was alive and working with the BMoL. It was impossible, it had to have been some kind of mistake. Jess had burned, he'd had to watch it. Although Sam was more than aware that not everyone who died stayed dead but Jess wasn't part of this world and if she'd have come back, surely he'd have know. This had to be some sort of sick ploy or she was a shapeshifter or something.
Sam didn't know what to think but what he did know is that he needed Dean.
Sam walked through the doors of the canteen where Mary and Mick seemed preoccupied.
"Sam! You're here. Where were you?! I was starting to get worried?" queried Mary.
"Er sorry, I was just looking for a bathroom. I'm not feeling so good, feeling a little queasy. I think I'm gonna head back to the bunker but you could always come too, mom", offered Sam, counting on the fact that she'd decline. Sam noticed Mick appraising him suspiciously.
"Thanks Sam but I have a lot of work to do but I'll drop by to see you and Dean soon, okay? Do you need me to drive you back?" asked Mary.
"No, I'm good", smiled Sam.
"Okay, well I'll walk you to the car", told Mary.
Mick still looked suspicious so Sam was keen to get out of there before they figured out someone had been in their files.
Thankfully, he said goodbye to Mary and was back in the car in no time. Sam needed to get to the bunker. He needed Dean on this.
Dean sipped a cup of coffee in the kitchen as he waited for his brother to get back. Sam had gone to visit Mary and although Dean had made up with their mom and agreed to work with those pompous snobs, he wasn't up to dealing with it today. He had been up for giving Mick a second chance. He had similar views himself once upon a time and he knew people could change but he still wasn't up for dealing with them at the minute. He was still angry. Sam had seemed pretty insistent on Dean resting anyway. Dean had got a little scraped up in a recent vamp hunt. It was hardly any worse than Sam's bruises but Sam had told him he needed to rest. Cas was MIA at the moment so they had to rely on good old fashioned natural healing for their bumps and bruises.
So Dean had stayed back and had a, much needed, lie in before he got up and scoured the Internet in his dead man robe and a cup of coffee in hand.
The metal doors to the bunker clanged and soft footsteps made their way down the stairs.
"Hey Sammy, your back pretty quick...is everything okay?" frowned Dean.
Sam barely seemed with it, his face was awash with about a million emotions.
"Sam?" Dean questioned seriously. Sam look Dean in the eye and the look on Sam's face scared Dean.
"I...I wasn't exactly truthful about what I was doing today. I mean, I was going to see mom at the base but I went with the idea of scoping the place...seeing if there was anything more off about them then we already knew" Admitted Sam.
"Weren't you the one who wanted to give them a shot in the first place? And you seemed up for giving Mick a second chance back on the case with Claire " reminded Dean.
"Yeah but I think maybe Mick isn't the one we have to worry about. I figured I was probably being paranoid but..I found something", explained Sam quietly as he took out the two files and dropped them onto the table.
Dean picked up the top file which belonged to Ketch.
"What's so interesting about this?" wondered Dean.
"The picture's in the back. Ketch killed Magda", told Sam.
"Magda? The psychic kid with the psycho mom?" asked Dean.
"Yeah, they killed her and those guards too. From our prison break", breathed Sam.
"But they were human...they weren't monster's", protested Dean.
"That's not all...look at the next file", told Sam with a shaky voice.
Dean took notice of the other file for the first time and jerked his head back in a mixture of shock and confusion.
"J Moore?" Questioned Dean.
"Jess", stated Sam.
Dean flipped open the file, "Jesus it's actually her...have you looked through this?"
"Not properly. I snuck in when mom was getting cleaned up from a hunt. I was supposed to be in the canteen and I knew I didn't have long before someone came looking for me so I swiped it and made an excuse to leave.. this has to be some sort of mistake right? I mean you dragged me out of there, you saw Jess on the...you saw it happen too", stuttered Sam.
"Yeah but look at mom. If this really is Jess, it's not like this is the first time someone we know has come back from the dead", reasoned Dean.
"But if it is Jess, who brought her back? And why would she be working with the British Men of Letter's, she wasn't apart of this life?" Wondered Sam.
Dean gazed at Sam analytically. Sam could often remain level headed and pragmatic even in dire circumstances. Sam appeared to be trying to logical address this but Dean sensed the hysteria in his voice. Dean may not have been apart of Sam's life whilst he was at Stanford but he saw how much Sam had loved Jess. He had been planning to propose and this was definitely messing with his head.
"Okay, we don't know anything right now. Let's look through the file, it's pretty thick so it has to have some sort of information it and then we can go from there", suggested Dean.
"Okay", nodded Sam.
Dean gently closed Jess's file. The file had provided some insight into what had happened. Jess had been brought back roughly 4 years after she had died. She'd woken up in a cemetery alone and 4 years older. The file had said they begun training her after she was resurrected but didn't give anymore information apart from he progress and success within the organization. That was all they knew. They didn't know who had brought her back or how it came to be that she was working with the Brit's but it definitely looked like Jess was back.
Dean looked at his little brother who was deep in thought.
"Sam?" asked Dean. Sam was too busy in his own head to hear Dean.
"Sammy! Earth to Sam!" Said Dean in a loud but soft voice.
Sam looked at Dean a little blankly.
"Sorry, I just...", trailed Sam.
"I know. We'll figure out what's going on", promised Dean.
Sam nodded but it wasn't very convincing.
"If she is back and she knows everything...she's going to hate me, Dean", stated Sam quietly.
"If she knows everything, she'll understand", told Dean.
"I knew what was out there and I just ignored it. I should have protected her Dean. She died because of me, how is she supposed to understand that?" Asked Sam with a tone that was thick with emotion.
Dean wasn't sure how to answer. He wanted to convince Sam that he wasn't to blame and that Jess would know that but how could he really know how Jess would feel about it? Sam wasn't to blame but when people are hurting, people can take that anger out on people who don't deserve it.
Dean was at a loss. He knew his brother and almost always knew what he needed and how to ease whatever burden he was carrying but in this situation, he was stuck. Dean was confused so he could only imagine the storm of emotions Sam was experiencing. Dean knew that Sam had loved Jess. She'd been his ticket to a happy, normal life. When Jess died, Sam didn't just lose the woman he loved but the possibility of living happily ever after away from the darkness that he was raised in, died too. Sam had never quite been the same after that. Now, it looked like Jess was back which was something Sam would have done anything for back then but so many years had passed and nothing was the same. Dean wondered if Jess being alive but still so completely out of reach would be even worse for his brother. A reminder of what he lost and never got to have.
"Sam, you couldn't have known that those dreams were premonitions", reassured Dean, finally deciding on something to say.
"What do we do next?" asked Sam, deciding to drop the debate on Sam's fault in Jessica's death.
"We need to find out more. Do you think mom could help us? She's there all the time and has more chance of digging up more information without rousing suspicion", suggested Dean.
"I don't know, she might not be up for that", hesitated Sam.
"Fine we'll figure it out ourselves", agreed Dean, "Hey, maybe Cas can help? He might know if Jess is still in heaven or back down here. He might be able to find out what brought her back too".
"It couldn't hurt", agreed Sam.
Dean and Sam waited impatiently in the bunker for a while before Cas finally showed up. Dean had called Cas 7 times and left 5 messages before he finally answered. At first he'd said that he was busy but after hearing Dean's pleading tone, had agreed to visit. Dean was convinced something was up with Cas. He was acting weird and wasn't around half of the time. It wasn't unusual for Cas to go off and for Sam and Dean to not know where he was but the amount he'd been MIA recently, was unusual.
"Sam, Dean, is everything okay?" questioned Cas.
"Where have you been?" demanded Dean.
"That is not important. Your messages and phone call seemed urgent", noted Cas.
"Here", offered Dean, putting away the subject of Cas' absence until later.
Cas took the file and looked through it with a frown.
"Jessica Moore, isn't that Sam's college girlfriend?", asked Cas.
"Yeah, Jess. She died years ago but according to the file she's been back for the past 8 years. We found the file in the British Men of Letter's base. She apparently works for them", explained Sam.
"Well I imagine this must be a shock for you, Sam but I don't understand what you need my help with?" asked Cas.
"Well you're an angel so we thought you might know if she was brought back?" told Dean.
"If this is true, Jessica would have been resurrected some time between the seals being broken and Lucifer walking the Earth trying to bring about the apocalypse. I was very busy at the time so Jessica's soul being taken from heaven and brought back to her body on earth would not have caught my attention", admitted Cas.
"So you don't know anything?" questioned Dean.
"No, I have many bridges to build in heaven but I could try and find some information for you. Crowley may actually be helpful. He could find out if any deals were made in order to bring Jessica back to life", suggested Cas.
"Okay, thanks Cas", said Sam with a small smile.
"Wait, before you go off doing whatever the hell it is you do, what's been up with you lately? You've hardly been around?" queried Dean gruffly.
"It is not important" stated Cas.
"Yeah, you keep saying that but if it's not important, how come you won't tell us anything?" demanded Dean.
"I have been in heaven", sighed Cas.
"Heaven? Is that safe? Aren't there a lot of angel's out there who blame you for the fall? You've got a target on your back, is going to heaven a good idea?" asked Sam.
"I appreciate your concern Sam but I'll be fine. An angel actually came to me and asked me to return to heaven. They are my family and I have to make things right", said Cas.
"We're your family! I pretty sure it's us who have had your back all these years and not the angel's", protested Dean.
"You and Sam are my family but they are too and I have caused so much suffering among my kind and I need to make this right, Dean", explained Cas.
"I'm still not buying it. Maybe you have returned to your fluffy cloud but there's something else going on here, I can tell. What aren't you telling us?" questioned Dean.
"I have told you everything Dean. Whether you believe me or not, it's the truth. I have to return to heaven but I will try and find out more about Jessica", promised Cas before leaving the bunker.
"You buying that?" asked Dean.
"Not really, something seem's up", agreed Sam.
"He's an idiot, how are we supposed to help him if he doesn't tell us what's going on?!" exclaimed Dean in frustration.
"Maybe it is a family thing? We can understand that, maybe it's something he has to do for himself", pointed out Sam.
"Yeah, I guess...", sighed Dean, "what do you think about what Cas said about Crowley, think he could help?"
"Probably but the real question is, whether or not he will be willing to help us", added Sam.
Crowley had been and gone. Crowley hadn't been any help but to his credit, he had tried. According to Crowley, no demon deal was made to get Jess back as far as he was aware.
"So, got any bright ideas?" asked Sam.
"Maybe we could split up. I could visit mom and see if I can find out more than you did? You've already been and wondered off once so they'll be suspicious of you but I could? Whilst I'm checking that out you could go to the last place in the file that Jess hunted in. Talk to some people and see if you can find out any of her alias's. If we get some names she used we can run them?" suggested Dean.
"It's a start I guess but what if the Brit's have already figure out that Ketch and Jess's files are missing? They could know it was me and you could be walking into trouble" thought Sam aloud.
"Sam, I think I can handle a bunch of nerds in suits and plus, if they knew, I think we'd have heard something by now", shrugged Dean.
"Okay, when do you want to do this?" asked Sam.
"Now's good".
Sam straightened out his suit before he stepped out of one of the cars he'd took from the bunker's garage. The last case that was noted in Jess's file was 5 hours away from the bunker. He'd arrived there in 4, desperate to find out some solid piece of information.
Half of him still didn't believe that the Jess in the file could be his Jess. The file recorded Jess's hunts and she was good, really good. It showed pictured evidence of kills she'd had under her belt. The file was pretty thick but if she had been working with the BMoL as long as they said she had, it definitely couldn't of included every hunt so Sam guessed that the one's in the photo's must have been significant for whatever reason.
As he looked at images of a decapitated Vamp nests, he really doubted that this was the Jess he'd been in a relationship with for almost 2 years. The Jess he knew at Stanford couldn't even bring herself to kill a spider, even though she hated them completely. She would still trap one under a glass and transfer it safely outside instead of squishing it.
He didn't doubt Jess's ability. Jess had been intelligent, head strong and determined. She could pretty much do anything that she set her mind to which was one of the things Sam had loved about her. So Sam had no doubt that if Jess had wanted to, she could have trained and become a capable hunter. He just couldn't believe that she would want to.
Although the tagline was 'saving people', there was also a lot of 'killing people' involved in it to. Not all of it was killing pure evil. There were creatures who were just as much victim's as the people getting killed. Like Madison and other's like her. Some people could control those urges and live off animal hearts or blood like Garth and his family but there were some people who couldn't. People who weren't evil and had never asked to be turned into a monster but had and couldn't control it. Good people who had been dealt a crappy hand but still had to be killed to stop them from killing people. He couldn't imagine Jess bringing herself to put a bullet into a young girl's head when the person looking at her wasn't evil, just a scared girl.
Then again, even if it really was Jess and not someone parading around as her, he didn't know Jess anymore. She may have been dead for 4 years but even discounting them, she was a 30 year old woman compared to the 22 year old he'd known all those years ago. God know's, Sam had changed so it was natural that Jess would have done too. Especially after what she'd gone through.
Pulling himself together, he stepped out of the car to talk to the wife of man who had been killed by the demon Jess had hunted last. He hoped that she would have left a number for the woman or something, anything that could help him get answers.
Sam sighed as he walked out of a small diner, swallowing down the last drops of his red eye before dropping the coffee cup in the trash can. The day had been a bust. He'd talked to several people that Jess had on the case but he'd come up with nothing solid. She had left behind a number to reach her on but when Sam tried, they'd already been disconnected.
Jess had posed as FBI and he'd gotten her fake FBI name but nothing that they could run and find out where she was. Sam decided to call it a day and phone Dean before heading back home, hoping Dean had been luckier.
As he walked to the car park at the side of the diner, he noticed his car was missing. All of Sam's instincts were on alert as he scanned his surroundings. This could be just a case of some kids stealing the car but Sam had a feeling there was more to it. Sam walked around the small building, making sure to be aware of everything around him. He couldn't spot anything, so he walked down the alleyway at the other side of the diner, deciding to hot wire a car in a slightly more secluded setting.
As Sam walked down the alleyway, he began to realize that someone was following him. Sam jumped around, his gun out and ready but the person he saw took any fighting instinct he had away.
"Jess", whispered Sam to the woman staring him down.
"Hi, Sam", stated Jess flatly before bringing the butt of her gun crashing into Sam's face, immersing him in darkness.
Dean had arrived at the base and actually spent some time with Mary considering he was there under the pretense of visiting her. Not that he didn't want to see his mom but things were still kind of weird with her. He'd stopped being pissed at her, mostly and they'd made things right but they still weren't how things should be.
His real reason was to find out as much as he could about Jess. He knew that this whole thing was already getting to Sam and had the potential to tear him up further if they didn't do something now.
After spending some time with Mary, making awkward small talk, Dean had excused himself to leave but when Mary had offered to walk him back to the impala, he'd insisted she stayed put. Thankfully, she had relented and it gave Dean the opportunity to go snooping.
Dean guessed that his best bet would be to get into their computer system so he found his way to an empty room full of desks and computer's. He gained access into the room using the card Sam had sniped but getting into the computers was a whole different thing. Sam was good at hacking into computer systems and Dean knew his way around one too but the computers in that place seemed lock down. Dean thought about how much he'd love Charlie's help now but shook it off.
As he fiddled with the the computer, Dean heard heavy footsteps approaching.
"Crap", whispered Dean. Scanning the room, Dean was relieved the see a supply closet and quickly made his way over and hid inside.
Dean heard a pair of voices enter the room. Sneaking a look through the small glass window on the door, he saw two men in spotless grey suits logging onto computers and Dean had a brainwave. He looked around the tiny box room and found what he was hoping for. A fire button. It said to press in the event of an emergency and Dean reckoned this passed as one so he pressed the button, being rewarded with a shrill alarm ringing out.
"There wasn't a fire practice scheduled for today, was there?" Questioned one of the dreary looking guys.
"Not that I know off...perhaps there's another vampire nest breaking in. It was only a few weeks ago when the alpha managed to penetrate the security system...we should get out of here quick", replied dreary looking guy number 2.
The two men looked panicked and Dean guessed they weren't guys who went into the field and got their hands dirty. Dean was glad of their fear towards facing a vampire in real life though, as they rushed out of the room, locking the door behind them but not bothering to log out of their computers.
Dean worked quickly, getting up anything on Jess and anything on their linked with Jess. There was a lot of pages once Dean had exhausted all the possible searches in the computer system that could be usful in anyway and Dean knew that time was of the essence so he decided to print out the many pages, praying the printer wouldn't take forever.
As he waiting for the pages to come out, he heard the alarm shut off which meant he need to get out of there. Finally the pages were done and he folded them and tucked them in his jacket. Dean left the room, rushing to get as far away from the room as possible.
Dean was lucky, he managed to get to the entrance without bumping into anyone. Dean guessed they were busy dealing with the alarm and breathed a sigh of relief as he left the building and climbed into baby, speeding off so he could put a comfortable distance between him and the building so he could look through his findings.
Sam's consciousness came back to him slowly. He became aware of his body but his mind was still foggy and his eyelids felt too heavy to open. Even in his semi concious state, Sam knew that something was wrong though, so he fought against the urge to submit to oblivion and fought to pry his eye's open.
After some fighting, his eyelids fluttered as he vaguely notice a figure in the corner of the room. As Sam became more aware, he remembered what had happened. Jess.
Sam felt a bolt of urgency overcome him as he fought for coherence in his foggy mind. His vision cleared and so did his head, only a pounding headache left as evidence from the blow to the head.
Sam sat tied up tightly in an uncomfortable metal chair. He wriggled around but there was no room to budge. The room was damp and abandoned and sitting casually in the corner was Jess.
Jess who he'd once planned to propose to but had lost. Jess who had been brought back and hit Sam hard with and a gun and tied him up. This was all kinds of weird and too much for Sam's midly concussed head to take. He felt a little hysterical as he forced down a bubble of laughter at the ridiculousness of the situation. Except there was nothing really funny about it.
Jess got up from the chair and walked closer towards Sam, arms crossed and face stern. The image in front of him was so Jess but so not Jess at the same time.
She looked the same except older. Although Sam couldn't quite put his finger on what made her appear older. Sam knew that it was inevitable that she would seem different. It had been 8 years since she'd been brought back so she was 30 now, technically 34, so she was bound to have looked a little different but her features hadn't aged at all. Everything was the same about her, yet everything was different too. Her skin was smooth and golden just like before as Sam remembered running his thumb across her cheek when she got upset or worried. Her eyes were still that shade of bright blue that he used to get lost in. Jess wasn't smiling but Sam would guess that if she did, that would be the same too. A smile that could light up the room. Her features were soft and pretty but different. He wavy blonde hair was pinned up tightly. She was wearing combat style clothing and her face was somewhat colder and harsher. Her eye's set in a steel gaze, her lips in a straight line and a little of her sparkle was missing. He wasn't surprised. If Jess had been hunting for years, it would have changed her. Sam certainly looked different from Stanford. The light had been snatched from his eye's too.
"Jess?" asked Sam carefully.
"Sam. It's been a long time, you've changed...you look different" acknowledged Jess, her face devoid of any emotion.
"What...what happened? You're back?" Stuttered Sam.
"Looks that way doesn't it", said Jess flatly. The Jess Sam had knew years ago had honey in her voice. Soft, sweet and coaxing. Now, her voice was empty and sharp.
"What happened?" Asked Sam once again.
"Don't you want to know why I hit you and brought you here?" Wondered Jess.
"I just want...are you okay?" questioned Sam.
"I'm not the one with a concussion, tied up to a chair", stated Jess.
"Jess, please, what's going on?" Pleaded Sam.
"I've been working for the British Men of Letter's for a long time. They get results. I've killed a lot of things out there. Stopped what happened to me happening to other people. It's all I've had since I got brought back. It's my job to eliminate threat and you're a threat Sam. The BMoL want you dead but they wanted to get any use out of you that they could beforehand. Too bad that you went and stuck your nose in where it didn't belong. They know you stole files and that you're growing suspicious so you're usefulness isn't enough to keep you alive now, Sam. It's my job to kill you", explained Jess like she was explaining how to work a TV or something and not like she was giving Sam a death sentence.
Sam thought that he felt his heart literally shatter but there was a numb sensation in the pit of his stomach too.
"Jess, this isn't you! You can't trust the British Men of Letter's", pleaded Sam.
"Like I could trust you, you mean? When you brought me into your life, knowing what was out there but not bothering to tell me?", scoffed Jess, "Sam, you don't know what's me anymore. You don't know me at all".
"This is not good, this is so not good", exclaimed Dean has he finished reading through the pile of paper. Dean had gotten more information than he'd thought he'd get but he really didn't like what he'd read.
Jess had been brought back by some rogue demon 4 years after her death. Apparently it was some Azazel loyalist who planned to carry on his legacy. They'd brought Jess back as a bargaining chip to get Sam on side. They demon's plans had been thwarted by the British Men of Letter's who'd killed him and eventually recruited Jess.
Apparently, a small portion of the organization had been in America for a while but hadn't bothered to lend a hand when the world was ending.
From what Dean could see, they'd filled Jess in on the parts that suited them. The demon who had killed her and the reasons behind it. Sam being one of Azazel's 'special children', Sam and the demon blood. They seemed to have poisoned Jess's mind into thinking that Sam was a bad guy. Telling her his mistake but Dean guessed they probably hadn't bothered to update her about Sam sacrificing himself to save the world.
Dean also realized that the British Men of Letter's seemed to have caught on to Sam's snooping and Jess had gone after Sam to the town where she'd previously hunted. That was not good!
All this was damning enough but Dean had a bad feeling there was more to it. There were gaps in the information, things that seemed to be left out. Dean guessed certain info couldn't be accessed by all employees and we're solely for the big wigs in the organization. Dean could tell there was more being left out and he knew they'd got Jess involved somehow.
Jess was now a trained hunter with a bunch of crap about Sam drummed in her head. She also happened to be heading straight to Sammy for hell knows what reason.
Dean scrambled for his phone, dialling Sam's phone. Dean tried 6 times but Sam didn't pick up.
"Crap Sammy, it was a bad idea to split up!" Exclaimed Dean.
He had a feeling that British Men of Letter's had something shifty up their sleeve and that Sam was a target. He didn't know what they were planning but he guessed it was nothing good and he intended to find out what.
First things first, he needed to find Sammy.