Supernatural: Red Sky at Morning
A/N: And I'm back with the second chapter. I hope you all are enjoying my version of things, 'cause it's going to get really interesting when it comes time to go to the party to find a certain item.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Supernatural or Criminal Minds; I just own the characters that I happen to create.
CHAPTER TWO: RELUCTANT TEAMUP
"She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house."
Proverbs 78:11
After leaving a tip with the police, the Winchesters were driving through the night, and they were depressed. The radio was talking about the incoming weather until Dean turned it off.
"Do you wanna say it or should I?" he asked, pulling Sam and Liz out of their thoughts.
"What?" Sam asked, glancing from the window.
Dean sighed. "You can't save everybody, Sam. Even the Doctor can't save everyone, and on the rare chance he does, he's thrilled."
Sam could sense that Dean was trying to help and deal with his own guilt, and Liz was too. "I know that, Dean, but it doesn't really help."
"I concur," said Liz, pouting.
Dean didn't bother trying to lighten up the situation any further and focused on driving instead. God, they were screwing up big on this one.
The next morning, the Winchesters were in the living room of an empty house that Penelope had found for them, due to a lack of cheap motels, and they were doing research on the ship, determined to keep anyone else from dying.
Just then, there was a knock at the door and they exchanged bewildered looks. Who knew they were there?
"I'll call you back, Garcia," Dean said before closing his phone and pocketing it. He pulled out his gun, walked to the door, and peered through the eyepiece. "Aw crap," he grumbled and opened the door.
Bela walked in and raised her eyebrows at their living conditions. "Dear God, are you actually squatting?"
"Well, not everyone can live in fine hotels and expensive apartments like you," Liz stated sourly.
"What do you want, Bela?" Sam asked while making a mental note to find and bury all of her Ouja boards, suspecting that's what she'd used to find them in the first place.
"I'm just checking to see how things went last night," Bela answered, noting their various reactions, which gave her the answer. "That well, huh?"
"If you say 'I told you so', I swear to God I'll start swinging," Dean warned her as he walked past.
Bela sighed. "Look, I think the four of us should have a heart to heart."
"That's assuming that you have a heart," Liz muttered.
"Elizabeth, please…I'm sorry about what I said before, ok?" Bela apologized, sort of. "I come bearing gifts."
"Such as?" Sam asked.
Bela smiled. "I've ID'd the ship," she announced, enjoying their startled expressions.
"You have?" Sam asked, surprised since he, Reid, and Penelope had only managed to narrow down the 150 ships to about fifty.
Bela grinned, pulled out a folder, and spread the contents on the table. "It's the Espírito Santo a merchant sailing vessel, quite a colorful history. In 1859 a sailor was accused of treason. He was tried aboard a ship in a kangaroo court and hanged. He was 37."
"Which would explain the 37-year-cycle," Sam remarked, picking up some of the papers.
"Aren't you a sharp tack?" Bela teased, sorting through the papers. "I have a photo of his somewhere…here."
Dean took the photo and he shared it with Liz and Sam. "Isn't that the customer we saw last night?"
"Looks like it," Liz agreed.
"You saw him?" Bela asked, surprised since she hadn't been able to contact the spirit despite her best efforts.
Dean nodded. "Yeah, that's him, except he was missing a hand."
"His right hand?" Bela suggested.
"How'd you know?" Liz asked.
"The sailor's body was cremated," Bela explained, "but not before they cut off his hand to make a hand of glory."
"A hand of glory," Dean repeated. "I think I got one of those at the end of my Thai massage last week," he joked and winced when Liz smacked the back of his head.
Sam rolled his eyes. "Dean, the right hand of a hanged man is a serious cult object and is very powerful."
"Think Harry Potter," Liz suggested. "The dried up hand that Draco Malfoy was examining in the second book? And then used in the sixth book?"
Dean nodded. "Yeah, stick a candle in it, and it'll light the way through the darkest places." He then smirked. "And it officially counts as human remains."
"But still," Sam pointed out, "none of this explains why the ghost is choosing these victims."
"I'll tell you why, who cares," Bela said, ignoring their dark looks. "Find the hand, burn it and stop the bloody thing."
"I don't get it, why are you telling us all of this?" Dean asked, suspiciously.
"Because I know exactly where the hand is," Bela answered sweetly.
"Where?"
"At the Sea Pines Museum," Bela answered, "it's a carp bit of maritime history. But I need help."
"What kind of help?"
'I so don't like this plan,' Liz thought, going upstairs to the room she'd claimed, and paused when she saw that the door was open. 'I know I left the door shut.' Pulling out her gun, she crept to the doorway, peered inside, and sighed before entering the room. "Bela, what're you doin' in here?" she asked, putting away her gun.
Bela was standing next to the closest and she was eying the contents with mild distaste. "I was just looking at your clothing selection for tonight, and I must say, I've seen worse."
"What I wear is none of your business," Liz snapped, walking over to the closest, and shut the door. "Besides, it still doesn't explain why you're in here."
Bela sighed and walked over to the bed, where two black dress bags were resting. "I'm here to get us both ready for tonight and I guessed right that you would need something appropriate to wear." And unzipped the first bag.
Unsure, Liz walked over and her eyes widened in shock: in the bag was a holster-type black dress with black ruffles, six-inch heels, and diamond jewelry. "You're serious?"
"Trust me, sweetie," Bela said, pulling out the dress, "you're gonna look great and Mike won't know what hit him."
A few hours later, Bela was in the living room, which was now lit with candles, and she was wearing a sleeveless black dress with ruffles, diamond jewelry, black heels, and had her hair done up.
"What is taking so long?" she called up the stairs. "Both Sam and Liz are already halfway there…with their dates."
`"So not ok with this!"` Dean shouted back, refusing to come down.
"What are you, a woman?" Bela countered. "Come down already."
After a few seconds, Dean came down the stairs in a handsome black tux and he noted that Bela had a bemused expression on her face. "Alright, get it out," he growled. "I look ridiculous."
"Not exactly the word I'd use," Bela commented, smiling slightly.
This left Dean wrong-footed. "What?"
"You know," Bela remarked, "when this is over, we should really have angry sex."
Dean stared at her for a moment and then folded his arms in a defensive manner. "Don't objectify me." He frowned, uneasy by the way that she was smiling. "Lets go." And he headed for the door, smiling to himself, and Bela followed with her purse.
A while later, they pulled up at the museum, and entered together to show their invites to the matire'd; inside, they saw the other guests, waiters, and a lot of security guards positioned near the doors and stairwells.
Bela glanced at Dean and frowned when she saw that he was chewing something. "Are you chewing gum?" she asked scandalized and he nodded, pouting when she told him to get rid of it, and got an exasperated sigh when he swallowed his gum. "Try to behave as if you've lived this life before, yeah?"
"Whatever," Dean muttered, hooked her arm, and escorted her into the main room, where most of the guests were gathered.
Mike and Liz were next to arrive and he headed straight into the main room, pausing to take in the view.
"Wow," Liz said, recalling the auction house back in New York and decided that museums had more life in them, even without the fancy parties.
"First time?" Mike asked, escorting her through the crowd to the bar, where Bela and Dean were waiting.
Liz flushed. "It's that obvious?"
Mike chuckled. "To be honest, I hate attendin' these things, and I only do it for the sake of the family name," he admitted. "Give me a football game and a pack of beer any day." And grinned when Liz laughed, enabling them both to relax.
Back at the entrance, Gert and Sam had finally arrived, and Sam was wishing he were somewhere else right now.
"This'll get their tongues wagging," Gert teased, having all but glued herself to Sam's side, "hey my Adonis."
Sam sighed, resisting the urge to fiddle with his tie and the collar of his shirt. "Just remember, we're on business."
Gert pouted. "Ohhhh, but sometimes business can be pleasure, hmm?"
"Right." Sam stifled a groan and then shivered when Gert ran her hand down his back. He quickly clasped her hand and faced her. "You know, could you excuse me for a moment? Thanks." And then hurried through the crowd, not liking the emotions he was sensing from her.
He reached the bar and glowered at his siblings and Bela, who were grinning at him. "Exactly how long do you expect me to entertain my date?" he demanded.
"As long as it takes," Bela answered, sitting on a stool, relieved that Mike had stepped away to talk with someone and wasn't giving her cold looks about his sister's case.
"Look, there's security all over this place, alright," Dean said seriously, "this is an uncrashable party without Gert and Mike's invitations, so…"
Sam rolled his eyes. "We can crash anything, Dean."
"Yeah, I know," Dean agreed, grinning, "but this is easier and it's a lot more entertaining."
"Plus you and Gert look so cute together," Liz added.
"You know there are limits to what I'll do, right?" Sam growled.
"Ohhh, he's playing hard to get, that's cute," Dean remarked and then picked up two champagne glasses. "Come on," he added while Bela stood up, "I want all the details in the morning!" and he handed one of the glasses to Bela.
"Thank you," Bela said and they walked away together.
Sam scowled while Mike returned with two drinks. "Already hidin' from my aunt?" he asked, handing one of the drinks to Liz. "I don't blame you."
"Thanks," said Sam. "Is she always like this?"
Mike shook his head. "Normally no, but after my uncle passed away last year, she's been havin' a late-life crisis."
"I believe it," Sam agreed. "Any advice?"
"Yeah, don't let her take you to an private place," Mike suggested, hooking arms with Liz. "She did that last week and it almost caused a scandal."
Sam grimaced as they left and he faced Gert, who was offering two champagne glasses. "To us." He took one and drained it on the spot, much to the old lady's surprise and delight. 'I'm probably gonna need a whole lot of this stuff to survive the night.'
Meanwhile, Dean and Bela causally walked through the crowd with their drinks, noting the locations of the guards without drawing attention to themselves as they returned to the entrance hall and placed their glasses on a shelf.
"Private security?" Bela guessed eying the stairwell they needed to access to get upstairs.
Dean shook his head. "I don't think so," he said quietly, "look at the way they're standing, they're pros. Probably state troopers in mood lighting."
"Posted at every door, too," Bela commented and she knew that this could be a problem for them.
"Yeah," Dean agreed, thinking. "I don't think we're just going to be able to waltz upstairs."
Bela frowned, pondering the problem. "What do you suggest?"
"I'm thinking," Dean muttered, trying to focus.
"Don't strain yourself," Bela hissed, earning a sharp look in response. "Interesting how the legend is so much more than the man."
Dean scowled at her. "You got any bright ideas? 'Cause I'm all ears."
Bela smiled. "Ok." She then clutched her stomach, groaned, and then fell to the floor, seemingly in a dead faint.
'Damn her!' Acting quickly, Dean knelt down to make sure that she was all right. "Honey, honey are you alright?" he glanced at a waiter, who was hovering nearby with a tray of small fancy meat cakes. "Waiter, my wife has a severe shellfish allergy, there's no crab in that?"
The waiter shook his head. "No."
"They're excellent, by the way," Dean said, taking a cake and popping it in his mouth, just as one of the guards walked over to investigate.
"What seems to be the trouble?"
"Ahhh, champagne…my wife, she's a lightweight when it comes to the sauce," Dean lied. "Is there somewhere I can lay her down 'til she gets her sea legs back?"
The guard looked around, unsure, and gestured. "Follow me."
"Right," Dean agreed, handing the guard Bela's purse. "Thank you, come on, you." And he grunted slightly, lifting Bela's dead weight, and followed the guard upstairs.
In a nice office, he laid her on the couch. "You think she's a pain in the ass now, try living with her," he joked as the guard returned the purse and then left. "Thank you very much."
Once he locked the door, he faced Bela, who was sitting up now, and tossed her the purse. "Maybe next time give me a little heads up with your plan?" he hissed, annoyed.
"I didn't want you thinking," Bela retorted. "You're not very good at that." She smirked at Dean's exasperated expression. "Oh, look at you searching for a witty rejoinder."
Dean scowled. "Screw you."
"Very Oscar Wilde," Bela teased and then she turned serious as Dean turned to leave. "Room 235." And she sighed at his confused expression. "It's in a locked glass case wired for alarm, I'm sure that won't be a problem."
"'I'm sure that won't be a problem'," Dean mimicked sourly before leaving the room.
Back downstairs, Sam and Gert were slow dancing with several other couples, and at one point, Mike and Liz had stop by to say hi before moving off again.
'I'm glad Liz is havin' a good time,' Sam thought wistfully; he wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was starting to lose hope in ever freeing his sister from that deal and that Loki was probably right.
"Where's Alex and your friend?" Gert asked. "They're missing a great party."
"Umm, ah, I'm sure they are entertaining themselves," Sam lied while mentally keeping the guards at bay to give his brother more time.
Gert laughed. "Oooh, naughty, then I guess we'll just have to entertain ourselves as well," she said suggestively.
Sam so didn't like that idea, recalling Mike's advice and then he jumped when he felt her hand grabbed his behind. "Woah," he gasped, making her giggle, "you know Mrs. Case" and she pouted, "I'm sorry, Ms. Case…I don't wanna give you the wrong idea."
"Call me Gert," said Gert, cuddling up to him.
"Ok," Sam gulped, wishing that he were somewhere else right now.
Gert sighed happily. "You remind me of my late husband…he was shy too, 'til we got below deck." And her hand dropped a little-
"Whoa!" Sam yelped when he got goosed…again.
Gert smiled at his reaction. "Mmmm, you're just firm all over ooh, mmm."
Both Mike and Liz saw this and Liz fought down a laugh while debating whether to go rescue her brother or not.
"Your aunt just goosed him twice," Liz commented.
Mike sighed resignedly. "Yes, she did."
Upstairs, Dean found the room with the case that held a leathery hand and quickly went to work on the alarm system. Less than a minute later, he disarmed it, opened the case, and carefully removed the hand, wrapping it in a white cloth before slipping it inside his tux. 'Yahteez.'
In the other room, Bela was at the desk, examining a small bottled ship when there was a knock on the door.
`"Sir? Ma'am? Everything alright?"` the guard asked, knocking again.
Thinking fast, Bela reorganized her dress, messed with her hair, opened the door a bit, and giggled at the guard while clutching at her dress. "Hi."
"Feeling better, I see," the guard remarked.
Bela nodded and giggled. "Yes, much, thank you."
"So, if you're done with the room…" the guard began.
"Well…not exactly, could we have a few more minutes?" Bela requested.
"Uhhh, yes ma'am," the guard stammered and turned away as Bela giggled again and shut the door. Shaking his head, he started back down the hall and saw Dean heading toward him. 'What the-?'
"Oh sorry," Dean said, thinking quickly. "Ssss'uh... nature called."
The guard raised his eyebrows, skeptically. "Uh huh."
Dean weakly smiled. "Thanks for looking after my wife."
"Oh, she's being looked after all right," the guard agreed, walking past with a knowing look on his face.
Eyebrows raised, Dean went back into the room, where Bela was fixing her dress and her hair, and faced him. "Any trouble?"
"Nothing I couldn't handle," Bela responded. "You got the hand?"
Dean nodded, pulling the wrapped item out for a moment. "Yup."
"The hand, may I?" Bela requested.
Dean shook his head. "No." He hadn't forgotten the rabbit foot theft and put it back into his tux.
"It might be more inconspicuous in my purse," Bela suggested.
Dean smirked. "Nice try."
Bela pouted. "Just trying to be helpful."
"Well sweetheart," Dean said seriously, "I don't need your kind of help."
Back at the party, Mike and Liz were debating rescuing Sam from Gert when Dean and Bela came down the stairs.
"Having a good time?" Mike asked Dean, ignoring Bela completely. He told Liz that he didn't trust 'Alex' and that he was certain that there was a connection between his sister's death and the death of the Warren brothers.
When Liz had asked what he thought it could be, he told her that there was an legend about a ghost ship that appeared every thirty-seven years, and only to those who'd been responsible for killing a family member and getting away with it.
"Oh, we're havin' a great time," Dean responded and nodded toward Gert and Sam. "I think it's time to break that up."
"Yeah, it's way past my aunt's bedtime," Mike agreed.
"Man, this is one long song," Sam moaned, wishing that the night was over. 'Dean, finish up please!'
"I hope it never ends," Gert sighed deeply. "How's the investigation going?"
Before Sam could form a response, his siblings walked up with Bela and Mike.
"Well, having a nice time?" Bela asked.
"He's delightful," Gert gushed, clinging to Sam, whose face was going power ranger red. "He wants me!"
Mike gently removed the glass from his aunt's hand. "I'm sure he does, Aunt Gert, but it's high time you went to bed," he told his aunt, who pouted.
"And I'm sure that Gert could use a cold shower, first," Bela added, ignoring the look that Mike shot at her and then whispered to the Winchesters, "See you at the cemetery."
They watched them leave and then Dean glanced at Sam. "You stink like sex." And grunted when Liz elbowed him.
"Behave, Dean."
After Liz updated her brothers about what she'd learned from Mike about how it was rumored that the Warren brothers had killed their dad, and that his sister, Shelia, had her car flipped, leaving their cousin Brian dead, and her relatively unarmed.
They got into the car, where Sam removed his tie and Liz kicked off her heels in order to restore circulation to her feet.
"You got it right?" Sam asked. "Tell me I didn't get groped all night by Mrs. Havisham for nothing."
"I got it…Mrs. Who?" Dean asked, not recognizing the name.
"Never mind, just let me see it," Sam requested as Liz leaned forward and Dean pulled out the wrapped item.
"Here we-" he began, unwrapping it and paused, surprised. "That bitch."
"What?" Sam and Liz asked.
Dean held up the small bottled ship, scowling. "I'm gonna kill her."
After seeing Gert and Mike off and changing her own clothes, Bela left a building that was near the harbor, and got into her car with a bag full of money.
'Another transaction completed,' she thought smugly and she was about to start her car when the sounds of creaking wood reached her ears. Curious, she got out and her heart sank when she saw the ghost ship sailing nearby, surrounded by storm clouds. "Oh no."
Bela had seen the ship and she was in serious trouble now.
A/N: Looks like Bela is doomed. Or is she? R&R everyone!