Supernatural – 4.19 Jump the Shark
Part 2
Xxx
A few hours later, Dean and Sam were in their motel room. After finding the remains of Adam's mother. They had left and instructed Adam to call the police, telling him he should call them about a smell coming from the vents. Naturally Adam was distraught, but he agreed. Dean had to hand it to the kind, he was taking it quite well. As Dean cleaned his shotgun, Sam came out of the bathroom just as there was a knock on the door. Sam walked over and opened the door, after which Adam stormed in. Dean quickly threw a cloth over the shotgun and stood up.
"Who the hell are you?" Adam called out angrily.
"Adam, hey, take it easy." Sam said as he raised his arms.
"No, don't tell me to take it easy, okay?" Adam snapped at him. "My house is a crime scene, my mom's probably dead, and you two… Well, you tell me to call the cops, but you got to bail before they show? So, who are you really?"
There fell an awkward silence, so Adam continued his rampage. "Cops didn't know where to look for my mom, Dean, but you did. And I heard you talking earlier… something about grave robberies." He walked across the room and noticed the shotgun. "You're not mechanics. I just want to know what's going on. Please." He added desperately.
"We're hunters." Sam said.
"Sammy!" Dan called out, the kid did not need to her the truth. Once you knew, you could never go back.
"He deserves to know, Dean." Sam replied determined, after which Dean shook his head.
"What do you mean, hunters?" Ada asked confused.
Sam told Adam to sit down and Dean sighed, knowing this was not going to end well. As Adam sat down next to Dean, Sam started telling him everything, well at least the most important stuff. Luckily, he decided to leave out the complicated war between Heaven and Hell. He told Adam the cliff notes version of what they and their father did. When Sam finished, Adam stared at them both with a doubtful expression. It took a while before he broke the silence.
"Okay, so... basically, you're saying that every movie monster, every nightmare that I've ever had, that's all real?" Adam asked eventually.
"Godzilla's just a movie." Dean remarked.
"We hunt them. So did Dad." Sam said once more.
"Okay." Adam simply said.
"Okay? That's it?" Dean asked surprised.
"What am I supposed to say?" Adam asked with a shrug.
"That we're liars, that we're crazy. Nobody just says okay." Dean called out frustrated as he stood up.
"Well, you're my brothers. You're telling me the truth, right?" Adam said.
Dean fell silent for a moment. He did not expect a response like that. When he looked at the kid, he saw a random stranger, not a brother. So why did the kid trust them so easily? How could he accept the fact he had monster-hunting brothers so easily?
"Yeah." Dean remarked eventually.
"Then I believe you." Adam simply said. "Now, what took my mom?"
"We're not sure. Something's in town stealing bodies, living and dead, but we don't know what." Sam explained.
"There's a long list of freaks that fit the bill." Dean added.
"You think maybe she might still be alive?" Adam asked hopefully.
Dean and Sam exchanged looked, both knew that his mother was dead, there was no doubt. Adam looked at both of them and caught on quickly. He lowered his head as the truth sunk in.
"Oh." He said. "How can I help?"
"You can't." Dean replied instantly.
"This thing killed my mom. If you're hunting it, I want in." Adam replied defiantly.
"No." Dean said strictly.
"Dean, look, maybe…" Sam started.
"Maybe what?" Dean called out.
"He lost his mother. Maybe we can understand what that feels like." Sam said suggestively.
"Why do you think Dad never told us about this kid, Sam? Huh? Why do you think he ripped out the pages?" Dean called out. "Because he was protecting him!"
"Dad's dead, Dean." Sam replied.
"That doesn't matter! He didn't want Adam to have our lives, okay? And we are gonna respect his wishes." Dean said determined.
"Do I get a say in this?" Adam asked.
"No." Dean and Sam replied at the same time.
"Babysit the kid." Dean said as he headed toward the door.
"Where are you going?" Sam asked.
"Out!" Dean replied as he grabbed his coat and slammed the door shut and Sam sighed.
"Is he always like that?" Adam asked.
"Welcome to the family." Sam replied with a laugh. He walked over to Adam and pulled his gun from his jeans. "Here." He said as he ejected the clip and held it out. "Let me teach you a few things."
"But Dean said…" Adam started
"I know what Dean said." Sam replied as he held the gun in front of Adam. "And I know what it's like to want revenge."
Adam looked at him doubtfully and then nodded as he grabbed the gun. Sam knew where Dean was coming from, but he also knew the kid needed to be able to defend himself. Dean did not have all the answers.
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Across town, Dean walked in front of a tomb with the director of the graveyard, an elderly man in a suit. He was dressed in a suit and posing as an FBI agent. He had his doubts about leaving the kid with Sam considering everything, but they needed some answers. The direction opened the door and they stepped inside the tomb.
"This tomb was built in 1926. Four generations of the Millsap family were interred here." The director explained.
"They don't build 'em like this anymore." Dean said, faking interest.
"Tell me, Agent Nugent, have you thought about where you might like to spend eternity?"
"All the damn time." Dean replied after some hesitation. "So, three bodies went missing. Any idea who did it?"
"Hooligans. Sick, deranged hooligans." The director remarked angrily.
As Dean looked around the tomb, he noticed something spilled on the side of the tomb. He walked over and touched it, it was a thick liquid with a nasty smell.
"This isn't blood. What is this?" Dean asked.
"No, it's embalming fluid." The director said as he took a look. Whoever committed this crime didn't just take the corpses. They opened them up."
Dean quickly wrapped things up with the director and left the cemetery, since he had another lead to follow up on. About an hour later, as it started to become night, Dean took a seat at an empty bar and looked at the papers he was carrying. The female bartender noticed him and came up with a filled glass of beer from the tab.
"First beer's on the house for cops. Feds too." The bartender said.
"Am I that obvious?" Dean asked.
"I know all the local badges." The bartender replied as he sat down the beer. "And you've got that... Law & Order vibe. So, what's the FBI doing in Windom?"
"Looking into the disappearance of Joe Barton." Dean said as he slid a picture across the bar and took a sip of his beer. The bartender seemed to recognize Joe. "I assume you knew him?"
"A little. I'm his wife. Lisa." The bartender said.
"Well, Lisa, what can you tell me about his disappearance?" Dean asked.
"Same thing I told the sheriff." Lisa replied. "He stayed late Friday before last to do inventory. Never came home."
"And the police?" Dean asked.
"Nothing." Lisa replied with a shrug. "Truth is, I was scared they stopped looking. But now you're here."
Dean looked up at some pictures above the bar and noticed one of Joe in a police uniform. "Joe was a cop?" He asked surprised.
"Deputy. For a little while." Lisa replied as she looked at the picture. "That was a long time ago."
"He didn't happen to work the grave robbery case, back in 'ninety?" Dean asked, going on a hunch.
"He did." Lisa said after thinking for a while. "Yeah. Joe was the one who found those bodies. He got an award for that."
"That was an interesting case." Dean said. "He ever tell you how he did it?"
"Most of the time, he said good, solid police work." Lisa said. "But after a few beers, he'd admit he had a little help."
"From who?" Dean asked, already suspecting the answer.
"A specialist. That's all he'd say." Lisa replied.
"Did the cops ever find the guy that stole the bodies?" Dean asked as he took another drink.
"No." Lisa replied determined. "But when I asked Joe about it, he'd say not to worry… that they took care of what done it."
Dean nodded as he finished his drink. He thanked Lisa for her help and left the bar. He now knew for certain that his father had helped that cop years ago, which meant he also started to see a pattern, which meant he had go get back to the motel quickly.
Xxx
Back at the motel room, Sam was finishing cleaning a shotgun and looked over to Adam, who was practicing disassembling a gun. For a kid who had never held a gun before, he was picking it up fast. Sam figured it must be in the Winchester blood somehow. After a while, Adam stopped and stared a Sam, as if he wanted to ask something but was afraid to.
"Sam...How did Dad really die?" Adam asked.
"Demon." Sam replied.
"You hunted it down? Got revenge?" Adam asked.
"Dean killed it." Sam said.
"So it's over for you." Adam said.
"It's never over." Sam replied reluctantly.
Suddenly, the lights went out and something rattled around them. Sam instinctively stood up and raised his gun before he even realized.
"What the…?" Adam remarked.
Sam shushed him and loaded the shotgun before carefully walking to the door. "Stay there." He said to Adam when he followed. Sam walked to the door and swung it open, aiming his shotgun as he looked around. Another rattling sound surrounded them and Sam suddenly noticed a large vent near the ceiling, similar to the one inside Adam's house before.
"It's in the vents." Sam called out as he aimed his gun at the vent. "Go!"
Sam fired his gun at the vent and grabbed Adam, pushing him out of the room. Sam grabbed Adam by the shoulder and guided him down the stairs onto the parking lot.
"Where's your car?!" Sam called out.
"Over there!" Adam yelled, pointing at a rusty old pick-up.
"Alright, the keys!" Sam replied.
"Here." Adam yelled as he threw his keys and ran over to the passenger's side.
Sam caught the keys and fumbled with them as he tried to find the right one. Suddenly, something grabbed his ankle and he was yanked to the ground. He screamed as something tried to pull him under the truck and he grabbed on to resist.
"Sam!" Adam called out in a panic as he circled the truck. At the same time, the Impala drove up to the parking lot and Dean got out. "Dean, help!"
Adam grabbed Sam's arm and started pulling while Dean got out of the car. He grabbed Sam's other arm and pulled, but the monster was too strong. Dean looked around and saw the shotgun on the ground. He let go of Sam and grabbed the gun. He aimed under the truck and fired. A scream sounded as the thing let go of Sam. Sam crawled out from under the truck and looked at Dean and Adam. Whatever it was, it was after him.
Xxx
A few moments later, Adam backed up his truck and revealed an open sewer grate underneath it. Dean walked over to the grate with the shotgun aimed and crouched down when he saw the thing had disappeared. He noticed blood on the grate and turned to Sam, who was leaning against the Impala since his ankle had been hurt.
"I winged it." Dean said. "Did you see anything?"
"I didn't get a good look." Sam replied.
"What the hell is this thing?" Dean said annoyed.
"Should we go after it?" Adam asked as doubtfully he got out of the car.
"No, in that maze? That thing's long gone." Dean replied.
"Alright, so, we don't know what it is, but we do know who it's going after. Joe Barton, Adam's mom." Sam listed.
"And Adam." Dan concluded. "It was under his truck, just waiting for him."
"It set a trap, and I walked right into it." Sam replied embarrassed.
"Doesn't matter." Dean replied. "You're right, there's a pattern. Joe Barton was a cop. I'm pretty sure he helped out dad. So we've got him, dad's girl, and his son." He added as he looked at Adam.
"All the people dad knew in town." Sam confirmed.
"At least we know why it's back." Dean said.
"It wants revenge." Adam remarked.
Both Dean and Sam looked at Adam, who stared at the ground. They felt some sympathy for the kid, as his entire life had been turned upside down, yet neither of them knew what to say.
xxx
About half an hour later, the brothers returned to the Milligan residence. Adam opened the door and Dean and Sam followed him in. Dean held on to his gun and looked outside through the window while Sam checked the back.
"Grab your stuff. We'll hit the road." Dean said.
Adam nodded and turned on the lights before heading upstairs. Dean and Sam entered the kitchen and Sam sat down on a chair, flipping his hurt ankle on another chair. Dean grabbed a first aid kit from a cupboard and threw it on the table.
"We shouldn't leave." Sam said as he checked his ankle.
"Yeah, let's stay here, where the kid's mom got ganked. Good one." Dean remarked skeptically.
"I'm serious." Sam replied as he opened the kit.
"No, Sam." Dean said. "We're gonna take the kid, we're gonna drop him off at Bobby's, and then you and me are gonna come back here and finish what dad started."
"How? We got no leads, no witnesses. We do have what this thing wants." Sam said as he wrapped a bandage around his ankle.
"You want to use the kid as bait?" Dean asked angrily. "That's why you want to stay here?"
"Maybe this thing will come back. We could train Adam, get him ready." Sam suggested.
"He could die, Sam." Dean called out, shocked that his brother would even suggest it. The kid was an innocent, he had no place getting involved in things that did not concern him.
"We could all die, Dean." Sam replied. "Even if we do kill this thing, there are tons of other freaks that want revenge, on dad, on us. What if they find the kid instead and he's not ready?"
As Sam finished wrapping the bandage, the brothers heard a bag drop to the floor and turned around to find Adam standing in the door opening.
"I'll do it. Whatever it takes, I'll do it. I want to do it." Adam said greedily.
The following morning, Dean and Sam took Adam out of the city and to a deserted field. As Dean reluctantly grabbed the guns, Sam spray-painted three targets on a "no trespassing" sign with Adam. After they finished getting ready, Sam aimed the gun and shot the first target from a distance.
"Whoa." Adam called out impressed.
"It's easy." Sam replied. "Just feel the recoil and time the trigger pulls. Three taps."
Sam held out the gun to Adam and he took it. Leaning against the Impala, Dean looked on with reluctance and shook his head as he looked the other way. He did not agree with this plan. Meanwhile Adam aimed the gun and fired three shots. All three managed to hit the sign, though only one managed to barely hit the mark. Adam seemed content and Sam smiled. Dean looked on annoyed and got back in the car.
A few hours later, all of them were back at the Milligan residence. Sam and Adam are flipping through several books of the supernatural, while Dean remained back and leaned against the door with a beer while looking outside.
"So, then we lit it on fire." Sam said, finished his story about a past hunt.
"With a homemade flamethrower?" Adam asked, impressed like a little kid.
"Yeah. They're easy to build. I'll show you." Sam replied and smiled, wondering if this was what it felt like to be a big brother.
"That is some job you got, man." Adam said.
Sam's mood shifted and he looked at Adam. "Being a hunter isn't a job, Adam. It's life. You're pre-med. You got a girlfriend, friends?" Sam asked in a serious tone, at which Adam nodded.
"Well, not anymore you don't." Sam continued. "If you're really gonna do this, you can't have those kinds of connections, ever. They're weaknesses. You'll just put those people in danger, get them killed." Sam looked at Dean and noticed him looking away. "That's the price we pay. You cut 'em out, and you don't look back. There's only one thing you can count on. Family." Sam continued.
"Sam." Dean called out. "Can I talk to you?"
Dean walked past Adam and headed into the hallway. He stopped by the stairs and waited for Sam to join him.
"What the hell was that?" Dean asked angrily.
"What?" Sam asked with a shrug.
"Hunting is life. You can't have connections." Dean quoted him. "Dad gave you that exact same speech, remember? It was just before you ditched us for Stanford. You hated dad for saying that stuff, and now you're quoting him?"
"Yeah, well, turns out dad was right." Sam replied reluctantly.
"Since when?' Dean called out, not believing what he heard.
"Since always." Sam replied. "Dean, when I look at Adam, you know what I see?"
"A normal kid." Dean replied.
"No. Meat." Sam replied coldly. "Because the demons and monsters out there, that's all he is. I hated dad for a long time. I did. But now I think I understand. So we didn't have a dog and a white picket fence. So what? Dad did right by us. He taught us how to protect ourselves. Adam deserves the same."
"Listen to yourself, man." Dean said appalled.
"You think I'm wrong?" Sam asked.
"I think it's too late for us." Dean said after a sigh. "This is our life. This is who we are, okay? And it's fine. I accept that. But with Adam, he's still got a chance, man. He can go to school. He could be a doctor."
"What makes Adam so special?" Sam called out.
Dean paused and looked at his brother. He did not believe what he was hearing. "What, are you jealous of the kid?" He asked with a frown.
"Are you?" Sam simply replied. "Dean, all this... it's not real. The dad Adam knew, he wasn't real. The things out there in the shadows, they are real. The world is coming to an end. That's real. Everything else is just part of the crap people tell themselves to get through the day."
"Dad didn't have a choice with us, okay? But with Adam, he did. Adam doesn't have to be cursed." Dean said after a moment.
"He's a Winchester. He's already cursed." Sam replied coldly.
"No!" Dean said angrily. "No, whatever's hunting Adam, I'm gonna find it."
"You already looked everywhere, Dean." Sam replied.
"Well, then I'll look again." Dean called out as he stormed out the door.
A few moments later, Dean drove the Impala down a dark road and parked in front of the cemetery. He grabbed his gear from the back, as well as a large metal cutter to cut open the large chain around the fence. As the fence swung open, Dean grabbed his gear and headed toward the tomb.
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