After dinner Dean head out to 'get rid of the car' and after that they settled down for the night. Which mend for Victor to get untied and after a bathroom break – leave the door open, thank you very much – Sam cuffed him with his own handcuffs to the frame of the bed. They were careful, never gave him an opening. Sam handled him while Dean controlled the situation with a gun trained at Victor. And that bastard would not hesitate to shot him, was maybe waiting for an excuse to do so. Why they kept him alive Victor couldn't quite figure, but he had no illusion how this would end.
One chance, Victor thought with a dark glare towards Dean, just give me one chance, make one mistake.
Victor lay on the bed. It felt good to stretch his legs after sitting on that chair for hours. Only one hand was cuffed to the frame what allowed him to actually move from his back to his left side. Not that that would help him in any way but it was much more comfortable than the tight bindings.
"I know you will not believe me, but you will survive this little episode." Dean said. He looked him straight in the eye and Victor couldn't find a lie in this look. It was his job to find the lie in sincere looks and he couldn't see the lie he knew was there. On the other hand, Dean was a professional liar.
Dean sighted as if he knew what Victor was thinking and got under the covers of his own bed.
"Try to sleep." With that he turned off the light. The room fell dark except for the dim light from Sam's laptop. After a few minutes Dean's breathing evened out and Victor knew he was asleep. The only sound came from Sam who was constantly typing on his laptop. Chewing on his lip he was absorbed in whatever he was doing. Victor watched him for half an hour and the boy didn't even look up once.
Taking his chance Victor shifted a little to examine the cuffs. And met Sam's eyes. He had barely moved a muscle and the kid was on full alert. No wonder Dean could sleep with his back turned towards Victor. Sam was on watch even when it didn't look like it.
Victor let out a sight. Nope, no chance to pick the cuffs on Sam's watch. Not that he had anything to pick the lock to begin with.
"What are you doing?" Victor asked with a low voice. He didn't want to wake up Dean.
"Research." Came the short answer, his fingers already on the keyboard again.
"What are you researching?" Victor pushed himself into a sitting position. No way he could sleep any time soon. So why not use this moment?
Sam cocked his head as if he was considering his options.
"You don't want to know."
"Dean said something about people disappearing in this town." Victor helped. "Said you want to find out who is behind that."
Sam nodded. "But it's more likely a 'what' than a 'who'."
Victor had seen the video of Dean's confession in Baltimore. Talking about a vengeful spirit. If he just wanted to mock the police or tried to dodge a death penalty by playing the nutjob Victor was not sure. They could not really believe that stuff, didn't they?
"Look." Sam turned on his chair to better face Victor. His hole position was open and honest. "You don't want to know. We are just some psychos. Keep it that way. It's safer for you. Believe me."
His expression shifted to something pleading that Victor couldn't stand. He believed Sam. He believed that Sam tried to protect him. But from what? Victor glanced over to the sleeping figure in the other bed.
He wasn't a shrink but in his job he had picked up a thing or two. Schizophrenia came to mind, bipolar disorder, things that come and go in episodes. Maybe Sam was well aware of his brother's problems.
"Why do you think it's safer?" Victor asked but Sam had turned back to his laptop and didn't answer. After a few minutes when it was clear that the conversation was over Victor made himself more comfortable on the bed.
The next thing he heard was a "Hey, Dean. Your turn." Victor opened his eyes. Sam was at his brothers bed and tapped his ankles to wake him up. The brothers exchanged a long look before they switched places. Sam slipped under the covers while Dean sat at the end of the bed the TV remote in hand.
"Sorry for waking you." Dean said. Over his shoulder his eyes met Victors. Besides opening his eyes Victor hadn't moved. How did Dean know he was awake?
The TV flickered to life but Dean kept the sound low. Victor watched him a while before he drifted of again.
When he woke up the sun was up and the bed next to him was an empty mass.
"Morning." Sam stepped out of the bathroom. "Good timing, Dean should be back with coffee any minute."
Victor pushed himself up and sat at the edge of the bed. His hand was still cuffed to the frame and his fingers felt numb. He wiggled them to bring the blood circulation back.
"Can I use the bathroom?" Sam was alone. Maybe, just maybe … Victor tried to look as harmless as possible.
"I don't want to hurt you." Sam shock his head. "And we both know you will try something."
"That obvious?"
"In your situation? You would be dumb if not. I would try it." Sam admitted. He sounded sure as if he had been in a similar situation. "We wait for Dean."
Not five minutes later Dean was back with coffee and doughnuts. After a short trip to the bathroom – and yes he had to pee again with the door open – Victor had the luxury of breakfast in bed.
After that the luxury was over. Hello chair. Missed me? Victor grimaced.
"Sorry, but this is necessary." Sam patted his arm which was once again attached to the furniture.
"What are the plans for today?" Victor asked while Sam sat down with his laptop. The kid was addicted to that thing.
"We have work to do", came the answer from behind Victor. As Dean stepped in his line of sight a hollow laugh escaped his lips.
"What?" Dean spread his arms. "I look pretty awesome."
No, he looked more like a little boy who tried on his daddy's suit. And it didn't fit him at all. How could anybody ever believe this guy was an FBI agent?
But Dean proved him wrong. He walked towards the door and between two steps he changed. He straightened his shoulders and suddenly the suit fitted him. Gone was the foolish boy. This man could very well be an FBI agent. Or everybody else he wanted to pretend to be. Both Winchesters had proven that point in the past.
"Call me, when you find something, Sammy."
"You too."
"Don't let him get a jump on you." Dean nodded in Victor's direction. Sam only rolled his eyes.
Victor was once again alone with Sam. The next two hours nether of them spoke while Sam was working on his laptop. Once he called Dean to tell him an address and then listened to the phone and took some notes. After he ended the call the typing started again. But finally he turned the laptop off and leaned back with a sight.
"Done?" Victor was curios what the boy was doing but so fare every attempt to start a conversation had been ignored.
"What I can do from here." Sam admitted. "When Dean gets back I'll head out for the library. They only have the last few years of the newspaper online." He sighted again. "You know we could work a lot faster if we don't have do babysit you."
"I could just leave." Victor offered. "What do you want with the newspaper?"
"See if something like this happened before. Looking for a pattern." Sam stretched his back. "But now I have to sit around till Dean has finished the interviews."
They acted no like Victor had expected them to do. This weren't the psychos he had chased the last months. They acted more like PI or maybe … cops.
Victor shock his head violently. He had to keep his mind straight. They played him and they played him well. Who could tell what Dean was doing out there?
While Victor was lost in thoughts Sam had found the file with his name on the cover. Lazily he flipped through the documents while Victor watched his reactions.
Suddenly Sam gasped. He read the same page a few times, his face changing from pale to red and back again.
"Sonuvabitch!" Sam was over him. There faces only inches apart Victor saw the anger in Sam's eyes. Giant hands dug into his shoulders. Victor grunted in pain.
I'm dead. The thought was clear in his mind. Sam would kill him. Right here and now. With his bare hands.
"How could you even think ..." Sam shock him, the grip at his shoulders tightened. "How could you?" Black spots appeared in Victor's view.
"Sam!" Dean was behind Sam. Dragging him away from Victor. "Sam. What the hell?"
Sam fought him for a minute and then just stood there. Tears in his eyes.
"Sammy?" Dean's hand still on his chest but now more for comfort than to hold him back. "What happened?"
When Sam finally answered his voice was rough. "He thinks you killed Jess."