Supernatural
1-2-3 The Devil's After Me.
Pilot Part 3
~~Fairmont Minnesota~~
~*~October 27th 2005~*~
Early Monday traffic wasn't too bad. Natalie thought. If I was a patient person. She parked outside the coffee shop across the street from the pawn shop. She was dressed in her 'Fed Suit'. Natalie normally avoided her suits like they held the sequel to the plague. She liked her soft button down shirts and jeans. She crossed the afternoon traffic at a sprint after a quick glance and stepped into the shop.
"Can I help you ma'am?" the owner said, after the door closed with a jingle. Natalie did a quick visual sweep of the shop and its owner. She was normally very good at reading people, and she didn't like what she saw. The owner looked like he could turn unpleasant on a dime. No one wore a tie that expensive for the hell of it in a place like this.
She schooled her features and took a breath pulling her badge from her pocket. "Yes, I'm agent Jane Stradlin, I'm with the cold case division." she snapped the badge closed and tucked it back into her pocket. "My advisor, Mr. Mike Kayser called ahead for me about a locket for a case we are re-opening on Tommy Douglas."
The store manager's response was a short laugh, "Stradlin? Like Guns and Roses 'Stradlin.'"
"The very same, no relation. If I had a dollar every time someone asked if we were related, I could retire early."
The manager laughed again. "But what would your division do without you? You seem like the kind of kid that gets their shit done and everyone else's." He laughed at his own joke. Natalie just pursed her lips, unimpressed. "That locket you're after is through here by the way. When your advisor called I put it up. Leave it to Murphy's law that no one wants the ugly thing until the Feds want it."
He pulled back a curtain and invited her into the back room. Natalie didn't like having to pass through the doorway in close proximity to the man but did any way and kept her shoulders back and head up.
"This store is really old. What's the oldest thing you would say is in here?" she said making conversation. They walked through a spirit standing and staring at a necklace in a box lined with velvet. They didn't notice Natalie's quick glance away.
"My family was wealthy, they owned a few factories and shops like this in the 1900's and 1920's, and managed to keep a hold of their fortune when the depression hit. They offered people hard on money to sell some of their heirlooms for cash. They gave them 5 years to buy the items back, or let them chose to sign it away, and then they were sold overseas for twice their worth. Depression ended and the business continued as such. The earliest shop opened in 1860."
Over 150 years' worth of spirit amo. Awesome. She dodged another spirit, this time, a little boy looking longingly at a toy sailboat. He looked right at her, "Mummy, I can't reach it. Can you get it for me?"
She pretended not to see as they continued down the cluttered hall and back room even as the boy continued to call 'Mummy?'"
She was grateful when they finally arrived at the owner's desk. The locket was setting out on an old cloth and had a small box next to it. Ready for packing.
"So uh...Will I get this back?" the man asked from behind the desk: leaning forward so even with the 'superior' barrier was still able to invade Nat's personal bubble, Used to having all the men in her life a head and a half taller than her, she wasn't fazed.
"Possibly. It all depends if the family desires to keep it once the case is closed. It is still here, and after all, it belongs to them."
The man just scowled. "Will I receive compensation?"
"I cannot give a for-sure answer, but since it is evidence, withholding it is a crime. I say we play it by ear. Or would you like to speak to my advisor again?"
Natalie couldn't hold back the small smirk when she climbed into the truck with the locket tucked away in its box. Bobby was very good at his job. She pulled out of her spot and continued down the road. Once she was a good ways away from the shop she pulled off the side of the road and called Bobby. She got his answering machine.
"All good here. On the road again. Thanks Bobby." She hung up and pulled away from the shoulder, bound for Alberta Lea.
She somehow missed the shiny glint of a car parked not far away pull out to follow.
Back at the shop things were not well.
"I'm sorry Sir, she left before I could-" The man was talking to a bubbling bowl of deep dark red liquid. A hissing whisper responded, and he responded. "No. she was alone. Just her." More hissing. "She's clever. She expected something, I'm sure of it. I think it's time we aim for the youngest. They are too far away to help." The hissing grew more intense. "I'm sorry master." he repeated.
This time there was no his but a delighted voice saying " Oh, you have not begun to feel sorry yet."
The man let out a terrified squeak, and in just a snap of fingers, the super expensive tie was soaked in blood and the office was left with his body scattered around the shop and the reeking smell of sulfur.
Natalie stood outside her truck, trying to shake the 'someone is watching me' feeling, but not feeling anything malicious surrounding it, kept it filed in her mind. Alert, but not on edge. Tommy was sitting in the cab holding the boxed locket in his lap. Natalie nodded to him then turned to stare across the street at the older man - Tommy's brother Nicholas- was working in the spacious yard. An old woman, their mother, was sitting on the porch watching him work.
"Are you ready Tommy?"
"You'll make me go any way if I say no." he said appearing next to her.
"Good." Natalie reached in through the open window for the box and approached the gate with Tommy trailing behind her. Talk about the stereotypical "apple pie life." White picket fence and everything. Natalie knocked on the gate, and Nicholas looked up.
"Come on in, can we help you?"
Natalie took a small shuddering breath. Here goes nothing. "I'm here to help you really." She said offering the box first. "This belongs to you guys."
He took the box, surprised, "It's not my birthday." he laughed. As a joke but opened the box, his smile fell to an expression of shock which switched to sorrow and so many emotions in between. "Where did you find this?" he whispered.
"A pawn shop in Fairmont."
"Come up to the porch with us." he invited. "Mom, you have to see what this kind girl brought back to us!"
"It was your grand-dad's, right?"
Nicholas looked a little startled but settled. He guessed it wasn't too hard to put together. "Yeah, he gave it to our dad, then dad gave it to me and my brother to look after when he left to go fight in Vietnam." his expression pulled down for a moment before forcefully being pulled back into a smile again. It didn't reach his eyes.
The horrible thought of seeing one of her brothers having to live with one of them permanently gone from the world crossed her mind. This man never stopped missing his little brother.
They crossed the porch and he handed his mother the box. Her expression was only pure shock. She quickly stood and offered a hug, "Bless you dear. Oh bless you!" Natalie allowed the crushing hug. When the woman released her she reached in the box to stroke the pocket watch. "I thought I would never see this again." She whispered.
Now came the hard part.
"I didn't just find it on a whim. I was...told...in a way to find it." Natalie cringed internally at her choice of words. Might as well drop the mike now.
His mother stared confused. "What do you mean Dear?"
"I live in an apartment complex in Stillwater. The same one you guys lived in in 1975. The year Tommy…"
"How do you know his name?" Nicholas asked a hint of fearless protectiveness in his voice.
"It's not like its private knowledge Chol." Tommy smirked, his comment only heard by Natalie. "Ever hear of an Obit big brother?"
Natalie had to fight to roll her eyes, Tommy only heard of an 'Obit' when she and Sam were looking through records to see what on earth she could say to the family so they could believe she wasn't completely insane.
"I've talked to him." She panicked when she saw the anger in the man; he was pointing at the yard, ready to tell her to leave, "Please! Hear me out, I talk to spirits, and I have been talking to Tommy for a little over a year. He lived in what's called an 'Echo' for most of it where he relives his death over and over and he's been stuck at the apartment and every day he told me it was December 15,1975, he died in the hospital later," she had to take a breath she was speaking so fast. "Please believe me, I'm not crazy, when you asked me how I knew his name, he got all snarky- asking if you ever heard of an 'obit' and he called you Chol."
All the anger faded from his face. "'Chol'" his face fell, and he started searching the porch for his little brother. "Is he here? Is Tommy here or is he stuck still on the night he died…?" he sounded panicked.
"No. he's here. I somehow broke the echo when I was hunting for any belongings in the little area where he fell. It kind of turned into a dump yard and it hasn't been cleaned in decades. And that's when he showed me the pocket watch. He said he had lost it.
His mother had remained quiet through the whole explanation. She just said, "Tommy boy…I can feel you lurking there by the step…" Tommy froze, his face was slightly fearful.
"Hi Momma," He said quietly, lower lip wobbling a little before he bit it to control his emotions.
Natalie didn't know it was possible for spirits to cry. Tears were falling down his face.
"Come and see your Momma properly hu?"
Tommy stepped a few steps closer, and the decrease in temperature had nothing to do with the October breeze. Everyone was surprised when he shimmered into view of all.
Everyone gasped.
At least I don't need to interpret any more. And they know I'm not crazy.
"Tommy Honey…" his mother reached for his phantom form to hold his face. "Why are you still here Baby?" she asked him.
"I don't know momma. When I woke up, and no one could see me, and hear me I got scared...and the people in suits came after me-"
"Reapers. They take souls to the afterlife." Natalie explained.
"I got stuck and couldn't get out." he finished.
"Tommy," Natalie got to his level with his mom, "The reason I brought you here was so you could bring the locket...and say goodbye like you wanted. You don't belong on earth anymore. Spirits that can reach corporeal form can hurt people if they get upset enough. You'll be happier."
"I don't wanna leave now!" he said, the breeze picking up.
"Mind your tone boy." His mom told him.
Nicholas had been quiet through most of it and finally chose to speak up again. "The wait will seem shorter in the light buddy. Mom and I will be there before you know it." he swallowed the lump in his throat. "You could see dad, and grand-mama, and grand-dad, and everyone."
"But…" he looked panicked. "If my only way to heaven is with a reaper...I..I haven't seen one since...since I…"
His family did look distraught now. "How can he move on now?" they asked.
Natalie bit her lip before starting, "typically, the way I have seen spirits, spirits that become vengeful and upset, people," my family "burns the spirits bones. But that method...I am not sure if the spirit is put the rest then. If the body is already cremated, then the spirit is normally attached to something they were in life. Same rules apply, I don't know what happens to them after. I'm sorry I brought up that possibility, but...it might just be spirts not completing their mission when they get upset when their bones are burned, I am not sure...but...the second option is just as risky…"
"What is the second option?" his brother demanded right off.
"I can summon a reaper. It's tricky, and they don't like being called, but as long as they get to do their job, they are happy."
"Well...I'm not too fond of you disturbing my baby's resting place, so summon away."
"Can we do it inside please?" Natalie asked. "It looks a little suspicious." Everyone nodded. "I'll get what I need for the spell out of my truck." without giving them time to argue she took off to get the ingredients.
Natalie shook a vial of powder into an old stained wooden bowl, and dumped the contents of a velvet bag that looked a lot like the bones of a small animal.
"What the hell is all this?" Nicholas asked, looking at all the words he didn't recognized sprawled over the page. If he didn't know better he'd guess it was Latin.
"Its best you not know." Natalie continued to add more ingredients. How ironic, they hunted witches, yet at times resorted to spells themselves to get things done.
"You have bones in there," he said, somewhat frightened.
"It's a bird from a graveyard" was all she supplied. She lit a small white candle to have at the ready. "This part may make you squeamish if you don't like the sight of blood." Natalie took out her gold and pearl handled stiletto knife. It was a bit fancy for this type of job, but it cleaned well. She flicked it open and held it next to her palm. "Seriously, I recommend not watching this bit." she waited till Nicholas turned away before she slid the knife over her skin, hissing a little at the sting of the blade over scar tissue and as her blood dripped into the bowl she started the incantation, eyeing her book if she messed up, they were screwed. "Veni ad nos servi Domini mors, et adesse festinant tempora. Ave, animae, non perdidi in solo tuto creditur. Venite defer aeternitatem." Once she finished she grabbed the small wooden pick lit it from the candle and threw it in the bowl, a great amount of sparks flew from the bowl and the lights began to blink.
**Translation** Come to us, Servants of Death, make haste. A Child, a Soul, is lost in The Veil. Come, carry them to their eternity.
"I feel it coming." Tommy said.
"Say your goodbyes kiddo." Natalie said gently. "When reapers are summoned like this they won't wait long. They have work to do."
Tommy turned to his family and smiled at them. "I'm sorry." he said, "I love all of you."
"Time to go." The reaper appeared on the stairs. He was a tall, thin looking man with a severe expression. Tommy and I were the only ones that could see or hear him.
"It worked." Natalie whispered to Tommy's family.
"I just need one more second," he told him. He approached me and whispered in my ear. "I know what my mother said...but just to be safe, so I can't get stuck here at all again, please still burn my bones. Just to be safe." he told me. "And thank you," he said. "You'll always be my friend Sugar." he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and I laughed. Leave it to Tommy….he held his shoulders back and approached the reaper. "Okay Pal. I'm ready." And Tommy was gone. Just like that.
His mother cried and his brother left the room.
Natalie looked up the stairs and just smiled. Her father could rant and rave his way was better all he wanted. But this brought peace and closure. The extra effort was worth it.
As his mother wept Natalie quickly bandaged her hand with an adhesive pad. It was going to make fulfilling Tommy's last wish a bit of a bitch. Digging up a grave with her hand all cut wasn't going to make a fun evening. After cleaning up the little bit of spilled blood and the ashes from the spell that spilled, she started to pack away all her things. .
"Thank you Dear for coming all the way out here to tell us and helping him."
"Not a problem ma'am. It's...kinda my family's business."
The woman just smiled. "Then I know who to find if I get stuck in the veil." she winked at me and went to her oldest son who was crying on the back porch. Natalie saw herself out.
Natalie was exhausted from the day's events, and even though it was out of her way now, she drove back to Blue Earth to see Jim Murphy. Knowing if he found out she passed through without saying 'hello' she wouldn't hear the end of it till the angels came calling, maybe not even then.
She pulled up to his nice little church. He was normally always there. She snuck in and made her way quietly inside. She knew better than to sneak up on a hunter, but Jim and her used it as a training exercise on stealth whenever one was in the area. Whoever lost a round had to buy the other a meal. She was almost on him when the stupid floor creaked.
"Damn." she whispered.
"Is that a Winchester I hear cursing in the Lord's house?" he asked without turning around.
"Sorry." Natalie said.
He turned a smile on his face. "There's a new Italian place that opened up down the block...today seems like a good day to try it out." he winked, then opened his arms for a hug. "It's been too long."
Natalie walked to him and returned the hug. "I was in the area and knew I couldn't get away with not stopping by."
"Once I finish up here we can go out for lunch. Ignore my joke from earlier. I have lunch taken care of. It's a returned favor for taking care of a nasty problem for the owners. They say me and a guest are set for life." Jim was replacing all the candles too small to light. Natalie walked forward to join him and helped move the short but useable candles toward the front.
"What was it?"
"A demon. And a low ranking one at that. It was mostly causing trouble. Saying 'Christo' alone almost made it smoke out alone. It took it less than a minute to save the person it possessed and send the thing back to hell." Pastor Jim picked up a candle that looked like it had been chewed on. He shook his head and put in in the box.
"Do you still melt the old ones down to make more?"
"Sure do. And I put in a layer of protection carvings and holy beads as well." He tossed the last few into the box. "That should cover it. I'll bring in my new ones later tonight. But first- on to lunch. Then I assume you gotta be on your way?"
"Yeah. Have to go back and make sure Bridget isn't burning down the apartment."
The pastor laughed. "You friend is quite the character. I'm surprised you trusted her to tell her about everything. I was quite startled when she asked me if I saw many ghosts around the church's graveyard when you both came to visit last summer."
"I think you're confusing me with my dad. He doesn't trust anyone as far as he could throw them. I think that includes my brothers and me sometimes."
Jim set the box down on the pew and turned her to get Nat's attention. "Natalie Mill Winchester," He said, looking very stern, squeezing her shoulder "You father trusts you and your brothers completely, how could you think otherwise?"
"Before maybe. Sam and me both left him and Dean in the dust. He came asking for help and I said no. There's no way he trusts me now"
"You father said some hurtful things, saying no to going with him when you have a life built like you wanted was not being mistrustful, or even mean. It was protecting yourself and being loyal to your current engagements," he told her.
"But being loyal to my family comes first. Should come first." Natalie stepped away from Pastor Jim, she could only tolerate so much of his piercing gaze.
"Before John came asking for your help, when was the last time you had spoken?" he asked softly.
"The day I left."
Jim picked up the box and started walking like the conversation was over. "Your father is a stubborn man. Believe me, I know, but he loves all three of you. He just doesn't have the ability to pull his head out of his ass long enough to show it properly sometimes." He adjusted his grip on his box. "Now...I don't know about you Nattie Kant, but I could go for some lunch….still coming?" he smiled.
Natalie smiled too and followed him out the church doors.
As soon as Natalie pulled into her driveway she called to tell Bobby she was home.
Safe and sound.
Spirit gone to wherever they go, all she had to do was salt and burn the bones for good measure, and at the request of Tommy himself. She called Sam as well.
She unloaded most of her supplies and put what was needed in the hidden compartment of her closet. She was surprised she had beaten Bridget home. Changing into some darker, comfier clothing she started making dinner. She would do the salt & burn much later. She found a frozen apple pie in the freezer and she shook her head. It had been a while since they had actual desert with their dinner besides a box of cookies so she decided to humor her friend and mentally promised to make it for tonight.
When everything was finishing up and the pie was in the oven Bridget walked in red faced and giggly.
"What's wrong with you?" Nat chuckled watching her friend squirm and blush deeper, slidding down the wall a little.
"Nothing. Just saw the hottest guy in the world outside. We talked for a bit. We might go on a date tomorrow," Bridge said.
"Did you get a name?" she asked chuckling.
Her face fell. "No. Damnit," she blushed deeper still, "We were kinda…occupied."
Natalie laughed a little harder. "He was probably just a tease any way. Come on, dinner's ready, and pie's in the oven."
Her face brightened. "I'm glad your home and not in the loony bin," her friend gave a cheeky smirk, "I'd starve without you. Let me go change." she left to their shared room.
They had barely just sat down to eat when she heard a knock on the door. "It might be him." Natalie smiled, "Go answer it."
"I'm in my P.J's"
"So? They're cute P.J's" Natalie smirked, wiggling her brow a little.
"Now, who's the tease?" Bridget smirked and stood up. She quickly ran her fingers through her hair a second before opening the door. "Oh Hi... again!" she smiled. "It is him Nat."
"Invite him in. We have pie." These parts were safe. The dream catcher woven into a devil's trap above the door kept them even safer.
"I do love me some pie." he chuckled.
Natalie froze mid stand. Bridget looked at her shocked face. "What?" She asked.
Natalie finally stood to her full height and carefully moved around her friend and saw her oldest brother standing in the door. "Dean?"
He chuckled, eyes twinkling, "Still gonna invite me in?" He gave his trade mark grin and ducked into his coat. Always such a little boy...
"Wait...your other brother Dean...this Dean…?" Bridget pointed at him.
"The one and only," he winked at her.