Olivia knew the look of a criminal that was running scared. Her baser instincts always appreciated the deer-in-the-headlights look of a perp she had cornered—there was always the feeling of satisfaction when she and Elliot nailed a particularly vicious criminal. Even so, the more overpowering and terribly unfortunate part of her personality was the part that wanted to believe the best of people, especially victims.
Dean was running scared all right, but he was no criminal. He had seemed more like a victim to her the second she'd met him, despite Elliot's suspicions. He had that look in his eyes, like he'd been brutalized in ways she probably couldn't fathom.
His brow furrowed in frustration. "Look, it's not what you think it is. We're trying to—
Olivia felt Castiel put his hand on her shoulder. She put her palm on her gun holster and her stomach swooped as a sound like a flap of wings brushed past her ear.
"CAS, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" Dean bellowed.
Olivia blinked. Their surroundings had changed. It defied all logic but suddenly there was cement underneath her boots. They were in the middle of a back alley in front of a run-down brick building. The springtime stars twinkled above a lone streetlamp that flickered near their heads.
"I apologize," Castiel said. "Sam said earlier that there is a nest here. He wanted to check it out tomorrow and question some of the vampires about the killings. I didn't know where else to take you. She was going to arrest you, Dean."
"WHAT?" Dean thundered.
"You'll need these," Castiel seemed to pull two machetes out of nowhere, as though his trench coat pockets were bottomless and machetes were just a few of the random objects that occupied them.
Machetes, for gods' sake.
Olivia felt dazed. She'd certainly had one too many tonight. "What's going on, Dean? Did you put something in my drink?"
"I'm going to go fetch Sam," Castiel said and vanished out of thin air.
This was getting out of hand. "Where did Castiel go?" She turned to Dean and he shoved a machete in her hand.
Olivia closed her eyes and opened them again, but the twisted reality was still there. "Dean or whatever your name is, you are under arrest for—
Dean yelled something vulgar and grabbed her arm. "Stay close, Olivia!"
She was starting to get scared. Underneath the booze, she knew something was terribly wrong. She shoved Dean off of her and staggered backwards several yards as something blurry flashed in front of them.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. "What was tha—
A fleshy nightmare with obscenely long canines materialized in front of them. At first glance he was a naked man. Anyone could have taken him for a freakish exhibitionist if it weren't for his blood red eyes.
"Look here, a Winchester boy." The thing sneered in a singsong voice. "Hope you don't mind if I snack on your cougar girlfriend."
"Olivia!" Dean yelled from somewhere. "You gotta chop off his head! He'll kill you if you don't!"
Liv stood dumbly for a moment, clutching the machete Dean had given her. The creature lunged at her, its mouth a gaping maw of jagged teeth. "CHOP OFF HIS HEAD OLIVIA!" Dean bellowed one final time in his gravelly voice.
Terror and madness temporarily overwhelmed her. She swung at the advancing monster's exposed neck and felt it find its destination with a sickening slurp. Blood splattered everywhere. She felt it splash onto her face and drip down the front of her blouse.
The thing's corpse flopped onto the ground at her feet. She heard it's head roll away somewhere behind Dean, who looked relieved, or as relieved as he could with drops of blood flecking his Abercrombie-and-Fitch model face. "That was a vampire," he growled. "And there'll be more where that came from, so you'd better cover me while I chop my way to big daddy and grill him about which one of his scum is killing these kids."
"This might be the first time drinking has actually prevented me from passing out," Olivia said, her voice faint with her own disbelief.
"Yeah, that's why I don't bother with sobriety myself anymore, sweetie," Dean rumbled. "Just remember to chop off their heads. Decapitation is the only way to kill them."
Olivia pointed at the mutilated body at her feet. "Will they all be in their birthday suit?"
Dean shrugged. "I don't know. I've never seen a naked vampire before."
"Welcome to New York," Olivia muttered. "So… this is what you and your partners do?"
Dean took stock of the area before testing the door to the brick building. It opened and he stepped inside. Olivia followed, feeling stupid and vaguely frightened as she wobbled and wielded the machete. She was pretty loaded, and there was always the possibility that she was dreaming—in fact, that was her hope.
"Yes," Dean replied gruffly, scanning their dark surroundings warily. They were in what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. "We hunt monsters. All that stuff you had nightmares about as a kid but didn't think it was real—it is. My brother and I have been doing this our entire lives, ever since a demon killed our mom when we were kids. Vamps are just the tip of the iceberg. But a Vampire pedophile… that's something I've never seen. It never occurred to me until now that you and I do the same thing, in a way. We both hunt monsters."
Olivia considered that for a moment. "Your brother… that's the tall one that was with you this morning."
Dean grunted an affirmative as they continued to explore the warehouse. The place seemed empty. Olivia was beginning to hope she wouldn't have to decapitate any more monsters tonight. "Who raped you, Dean?" she asked quietly.
The hunter froze in his tracks. He turned around slowly and stared at her. "I know a rape victim when I see one," she explained boldly. "I'm good at just knowing on an instinctual level… A rape victim raised me, you see. My father raped my mother and that's why I'm here."
He stared at her for another few seconds before his face contorted. His next words seemed to tax him. "Olivia, I've been raped more times than I can count. I just wasn't here when it happened."
Before she had time to wonder what on earth that meant—and whether she even wanted to know, she saw a flash out of the corner of her eye. "Dean, above you!" she yelled.
A vampire—this one fully clothed in what looked like a mesh top and leather pants was plowing through the air from above and aiming for Dean's throat. He sidestepped and it landed, cat-like, on the floor—eyeing Dean and licking his lips through his pointed teeth. He looked to be a handsome young man around Dean's age, dressed as though he was ready to go out to the gay club.
"Nice outfit, Liberace," Dean sneered.
"Poke fun all you want, Winchester," the Vampire replied with equal venom. "But there are lots of rumors swirling around about what you and the Angel of Thursday get up to in those motel rooms together."
Winchester… the name was ringing a bell somewhere in the back of Liv's mind. Dean seemed taken aback. "Wha…" he stammered, looking flustered. If the situation didn't already warrant unfathomable comedic irony she would have chuckled. "I'm not, I mean… me and Cas… that's crazy. I don't think he even has the… parts…"
He shook himself, then lunged forward and plunged his machete into the Vampire's chest. It shrieked, its bloodstained eyes widening with horror. His tongue lolled out and Olivia tried not to be sick.
"Which one of you is raping kids and eating them?" Dean roared. "Tell me, or I go Benny Hanna on your ass and power tower this kitchen knife through your head perpendicular to the usual way, you son of a bitch!"
The Vampire hissed and squawked, blood splattering everywhere and dripping through his fangs. Dean clearly hadn't had her training in cross-examining suspects. She recalled something Castiel had said earlier. "Dean, we all ready know whose doing it."
She turned her attention to the impaled Vampire. "What do you know about Tom Clark and where we can find him? If you have any information for us, I'll convince him to walk away without bothering the rest of your, uh… nest."
"Like Hell I will!" Dean shouted, plunging the machete deeper into the thing's chest. It shrieked—a sound that made Olivia want to gag, it was so awful. She would have, if Dean's behavior didn't remind her so much of Elliot.
"He doesn't have a nest," the Vampire squealed. "But he likes little boys!"
"We know that, that's why we're gonna waste him. Tell us where he is!" the rafters of the warehouse were shaking with Dean's rage.
"I know where he sleeps. I turned him down once!" the thing squealed. "During the day, he poses as a balloon salesman in Central Park so he can find his next snack. Calls it 'grocery shopping.'"
With one swift motion of his arm, Dean cut through the rest of the Vampire's chest and up through his neck and head before bringing his arm around again and plunging his blade through it's neck. The headless corpse fell headfirst to the ground, its head scattering around in four pieces like a quartered watermelon. "Now the rats in this dump can grocery shop in your brains, you freak." Dean spat.
Olivia might have wondered at Dean's brutality if she hadn't seen the corpses of the children that were victims of things like this. She could see how a job like this one could wear down on a person. And this was the tip of the iceberg?
Her thoughts were cut short, however, as Dean wiped off the blade of his machete with his sleeve and muttered, "We've got company, Detective."
3 3 3
Sam felt his heart rate spike slightly at the sight of the car pulling up from his motel window. He could see the boxy-faced detective from earlier that day in the driver's side. He'd known that it wouldn't be long before he and the other detective recognized them. They'd had so many outrageous scuffles with law enforcement and these were the elites—NYPD's special victims unit had to be the best of the best.
God dammit. He wished he'd convinced Dean not to talk to the fuzz earlier that day, but when his older brother decided on something it took a lot of persuasion to talk him out of it—usually involving the barrel of a gun in his face.
Sam sighed, closed his laptop and shoved the law book he'd been reading aside. There wasn't any way around it—he all ready had the suspicion that they were going to have to get out of this one the normal way. Time to talk to that detective.
He left the motel room and hopped down the stairs to meet Detective Stabler. "Sam Winchester?" Stabler barked as he strode towards him. "You are under arrest for—
A feathery flap of wings announced Castiel's arrival. "Sam," the solemn faced angel said, ignoring Stabler, who stopped cold in his tracks.
"Where the hell did you come from?" he said incredulously, his mouth falling open.
"There is no time," Castiel said. "Sam, you must come with me."
"Wait, Cas," Sam said quickly. "Don't zap me out of here. I have a plan."
"But Dean is with the other detective, Olivia Benson, in the vampire nest you told me about."
"That's all right, Dean can handle that," Sam said quickly. "Just let me—
"Vampire nest?" Stabler roared. "What are you on, you fruitcake? And what the hell did your brother do with my partner?"
Sam raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "You have my full cooperation, Detective. Your partner is fine. She's with my brother in a warehouse on the upper west side."
"WHAT?" Stabler bellowed. "You both are under arrest! Take me to my partner right now!"
"Just do what he says, Cas" Sam muttered.
3 3 3
Olivia sighed as Casey Novak's mouth contorted slightly and her slate green eyes narrowed. The ADA had the best poker face of anyone she knew, but even she couldn't keep a straight face with the story her detective was telling her.
"So let me get this straight, Olivia," Novak said, folding her hands together in front of her. "Dean Winchester, a wanted serial killer who has faked his death numerous times to escape the law, took you to a vampire nest, gave you a machete and the two of you decapitated a bunch of vampires. And that's why you came into the precinct with them covered in blood? I've wondered about your mental health on a few occasions, but this one really takes the cake. I want to know what he really did to you, Olivia. I'm going to get him. I'm—
"I know it sounds crazy," Olivia said, staring at her hands. "Maybe I am crazy. But I do know I iced at least a couple of those… vampires."
Her ADA closed her eyes, then opened them again. "You didn't kill anyone, Olivia. I know that. He must have gotten to you somehow. A lot of witnesses that we've talked to about Dean Winchester claim he saved their lives, but they either don't say what he saved them from or they have some crazy story about werewolves and bats and banshees."
"It's true," Olivia insisted. "If that many people are saying that's what happened, if I'm saying that's what happened, don't you think maybe there could be some validity to it?"
"What's happened is the inevitable-you've finally lost your marbles," Casey said, grabbing her briefcase and getting to her feet. "Elliot said one of the witnesses is a man that's been missing for a while. Didn't say much about him but he's interrogating him right now. I want to go take a look. Come with me, and maybe you can sort yourself out."
Olivia shrugged and followed the ADA to one of their interrogation rooms. Inside, Castiel was staring straight ahead as Stabler grilled him. The hairs on the back of Olivia's neck stood up as she remembered what the Vampire had said about Dean and the "Angel of Thursday." There had been something odd about Castiel from the beginning. Could it be…
"No way," Casey's voice was hoarse. She ran up to the invisible glass and pressed her face up against it. "Jimmy?"
"Actually, his name is Castiel." Olivia said, confused.
"What are you talking about? Olivia, that's my brother in there!" Casey shrieked. She shoved the door to the interrogation room open and barged inside. Olivia followed, confused. How could Castiel be Novak's brother?
"Counselor," Elliot said, an irritated frown on his face. "I thought we talked about you barging in while I'm interrogating a suspect a long time ago?"
Castiel cocked his head at the copper-haired ADA curiously and a look of recognition crossed his face, soon followed by shock. "Jimmy, what are you doing here?" Casey asked, her eyes wide. "What the hell is going on?"
"Casey, I can explain all of this," Castiel replied. "You see, I am not actually your older brother, Jimmy Novak. He is my voluntary vessel. I am an angel of the Lord, fallen from grace. Sam and Dean Winchester are my charges and I—
"Oh my god, not you too." Casey said, blinking furiously. Olivia put her hand on her shoulder. It was rare to see her ADA moved to near tears. "First Olivia, now you. Don't worry Jimmy, I'm going to make sure they never see the light of day ever again."
"I hate to break it to you, Casey, but your brother is long gone," Elliot said, folding his arms together. "He's been saying stuff crazier than this all night. Guy's off his rocker."
"This would be easier to resolve if you interrogated the Winchester brothers and me together instead of separately," Castiel said after a thoughtful pause. "I am unsure of how to proceed without them. This new development is very unsettling, indeed."
"Yes, bring them in here," Casey agreed, a murderous look on her face.
Olivia shook her head. "I've seen some crazy shit as a cop but this is out of control." Castiel was an angel in the body of Casey Novak's brother? Butchering vampires? She was still hoping she'd wake up anytime now and find that this was a wild dream.
"This is my fault, Jimmy," Casey approached Castiel and put her hand on his cheek. Like Olivia, she seemed to be having trouble believing all this was real. "Jimmy, I know I haven't been around to see the family much in a while but I'm all wrapped up in my job and… and I miss you, and what about Amelia and Claire? Do they know you're hanging around with suspected serial killers?"
"Casey, get a hold of yourself," Elliot interrupted. "This guy isn't your brother anymore."
"Shut up, Elliot," The ADA said sharply.
"Do not be alarmed, Casey Novak," Castiel said, putting his palm on Casey's hand. "Jimmy's mind is somewhat scrambled from being my vessel for so long, but his body is still intact. Even in the suspended state his conscious is in, I can see that he is very proud of you. In fact, I am most curious about your interest in softball. Sam mentioned catchers and pitchers the other day when he was mocking my relationship with his brother, Dean—a most interesting observation. Doesn't that have something to do with the sport of softball?"
Casey's eyes widened in horror and disbelief. She was, for once, speechless.
"Casey, listen," Olivia strode over to the ADA and turned her away from Castiel. She put her hands on her shoulders and looked directly into her eyes. "You have to trust me on this one. Elliot's right, this isn't your brother. And you're too emotionally involved now to prosecute Sam and Dean. I know this is all a lot to take in but this isn't like our other cases."
"You're insane if you don't think I'm going to prosecute them, Olivia! They've turned my brother into a lunatic who thinks he's possessed by an angel! And they've got you thinking you beheaded a vampire!"
Behind them, Elliot gave Olivia a concerned look. She hadn't told her partner what she'd seen in the vampire nest yet. She sighed. First she'd deal with her traumatized ADA, then her skeptical partner. "Casey, look—
The door to the interrogation room opened and two officers shoved Sam and Dean inside. Dean grinned when he saw Casey. "Well, hello. I hope you're our lawyer."
"No, I'm the one who's going to be prosecuting you," Casey said over Olivia's shoulder. "And I'm going to make you pay for whatever it is you've done to my brother, you rat bastard."
This was extremely unlike Casey. Olivia was used to her not reacting when suspects tried to flirt with her. Dean looked surprised. "Brother?"
"Ah, Sam and Dean," Castiel looked pleased to see the boys. "We have a bit of a situation. This is the assistant district attorney for the NYPD special victims unit, Casey Novak. A very pretty young lawyer indeed, but unfortunately she is Jimmy Novak's younger sister. She seems to be upset."
Dean exchanged a soulful look with his brother. "Well, shit," he said. "I guess good looks run in the family, eh Cas?"
"His name is Jimmy!" Casey shrieked. Olivia tightened her grip on her shoulders and prepared to restrain her if necessary.
"Look, your brother is fine-" Sam started to say, but Olivia shushed him.
"Both of you be quiet. Don't say anything until you get a lawyer in here with you."
Elliot raised his eyebrows at his partner. "Liv, are you all right? What are you giving these guys advice for? What the hell is going on?"
"You're looking at our lawyer," Sam said, straightening his shoulders. "I'm going to be representing both of us."
"Huh?" Dean looked surprised. "What are you talking about, Sammy? Pre-law at Stanford is impressive, but it doesn't mean you can be our lawyer."
"I'm taking the bar exam next week, right in time for our arraignment," Sam replied. "In the state of New York you don't need to have a law degree to practice law, you just have to pass the bar. I can do it, but I won't be getting much sleep for the next few days. We're going to do this right this time, Dean. We're going to put our legal problems behind us once and for all."
"Damn," Dean said, shaking his head. "Think you can handle Jimmy Novak's spitfire little sister here?"
"That is precisely why I requested that the two of you be brought in here," Castiel interjected. "I think we can use this new information to our advantage." He sighed, and turned to the ADA. "I do apologize for this, Miss Novak."
He began to change, at first subtly. His eyes seemed to glow and then disappear in a halo of blinding white light. A ringing noise whooshed past their ears, quietly at first, but then gradually louder. "Cas, what are you doing?" Dean roared.
Olivia staggered back and let go of the ADA to shield her eyes as the ringing got louder and louder. She covered her ears, but still felt them pop painfully. She gasped as it got worse. Her head felt like it was going to explode. She tried to open her eyes and see where Elliot was, but the light was too bright.
She heard Casey scream. "No… No! STOP!"
There was an explosion of some kind—a golden flare that was so bright it caused the mirrored glass to shatter.
And then everything went dark.