Disclaimer: I don't own supernatural.
They arrived early into town, as Sam had expected Dean and Jo hadn't fight anymore, Dean still didn't want Jo with them but he had been a good sport so far, no more pranks or jokes. They had travelled for a couple of days and Sam had found them a job.
"So what's this about?" Dean asked.
"Clyde Carr a school teacher went mute for apparently no reason" Sam explained.
"Seriously? We're looking into that?" Dean asked.
"A week before him Lenora Montgomery went mute too… she killed herself five days later - Dean shoot his brother a look - we've looked into less" Sam explained.
They were on their way to the hospital to speak (not literally) to Mr. Carr. They entered a bright white room, Mr Carr was sitting in his bed, fighting with the remote control batteries.
"Mr. Carr? Sam asked. Mr Carr looked up; he saw them then turned his eyes towards Jo. He had a small black board and a piece of chalk in his lap. He grabbed it quickly and wrote: "Can I help you?" His eyes scanned Jo as if she were a delicious candy cane. With all her will Jo tolerated Mr Carr look.
"I'm Doctor Bennett – Jo introduced herself – Drs Tyler and Perry – Jo said pointing at Sam and Dean – we're with the Center for Disease Control"
Mr Carr wiped his blackboard and quickly wrote: "Nice to meet you agent Bennett" the guy was almost drooling.
Dean noticed the guy was getting into Jo's nerves so he spoke "We're looking into your case and we were hoping we could ask you some questions"
Finally the guy looked at Dean then wrote in his board: "Think is contagious?"
"Maybe" Dean answered. The guy's gaze was back on Jo.
"Mr. Carr, What were you doing when you lost your voice?" Sam intervened.
He erased his little board again and wrote in small letters: "Teaching"
"Did anything out of the ordinary happen?" Sam asked.
The guy wrote fast: "Not that I recall"
"Nothing at all?" Jo asked.
Mr. Carr immediately looked at her and wrote: "Nothing I was yelling at a kid and a sec later my voice was gone" And you're incredibly hot he thought that last part but didn't wrote it down.
"Thanks for your time, we'll be in touch" Dean added and they left. Mr Carr gaze followed Jo until she left the room.
Back in the car Jo was able to let it out "My God what a creep!"
Sam and Dean understood her, the guy was a total creep. They decided to split up Sam and Dean would go check Lenora's body while Jo went to see what she could find out of that disgusting creep.
She arrived at the school to interview the principal and some of the students, as she walked the halls she remembered the time she had spent in school and how much she had hated it, she didn't fit in no matter how much she tried to, all the other kids used to treat her like a freak, even the weird kids that were the very rejects of school society had more friends than her, she had gotten in trouble once or twice for hitting one of the cheerleaders after a prank they'd play on her. She also recalled a day she wish she could forget, the day she quitted for good, one of the kids that bugged her all the time, had seen she carried a folding knife in her pocket, the one that belonged to her father, the principal a tiny man that believed himself as the king of the school, but only because his life outside school was miserable, had been looking for a reason to finally kick her out of his dominion, so the annoying guy told on her about the knife and she was expelled. Her mother had been mad as hell, but she managed to put her foot down, she wasn't going to put her feet on any other school ever again, and she didn't, until now. She found the principal's office and showed her fake credentials.
"My God is what Clyde has contagious?" Principal Harris asked freaked out.
"Not so far but we need more information" Jo replied.
Sighting with relieve Mr. Harris proceeded "What would you like to know?"
"Well let's start by what's Mr Carr like?" besides of a disgusting roach Jo thought
"He's great, he teaches Biology, he is great with the kids… I don't know what else to say?"
"Was he acting any differently when it happened or the days before?"
"I really can't say about the day it happened, I had an important meeting that day and didn't saw him until after it happened, but I understand he was being the same old Clyde"
"I understand he was scolding a student when he went mute"
"Yeah Oliver Willis a real smartass"
"Could I talk to him?"
"Sure, anything you need Dr Bennett" He summoned Oliver to his room and in ten minutes a black haired kid appeared at the door, he had deep brown eyes and white skin. He stepped into the office. He looked at the principal, then at Jo and believed he was in trouble.
"Look Mr Harris I don't know what you've heard but I been…" he began and was interrupted.
"I didn't call you for that" Mr Harris said seriously "This is Dr Bennett she's here to ask you some questions about Mr Carr"
The kid looked at Jo and waited.
"Actually Mr Harris, do you mind if we talk in private?" Jo said looking back at the kid.
"Sure but I don't see why…" he began but Jo interrupted him.
"Let's get some fresh air huh Oliver?" she said standing up and going for the door the boy followed her.
"If you need anything don't hesitate asking" Mr Harris called from his office.
They went outside. The football team was training on the field yards in front of them.
"So what do you want to know?"
"Well let me start by saying I met Mr Carr and he isn't such a great person as your principal said"
"Tell me about it he's a total freak…he's always taking pictures of girls you know? ...pervert" Oliver explained as he walked.
"What happened the day he lost his voice?" Jo asked him.
"Well… one moment he was yelling at me and the next one his lips are moving but words aren't coming out"
"Why was he yelling at you?" Jo asked curious.
"I erased the pictures in his camera, he went berserk said they were photos for the yearbook, but that's bull, he's a freak and a pervert and everybody knows that even Mr Harris, he's just too lazy to get off his ass and do something"
"Did you notice anything strange before the class?"
"Not really, before class I saw him by the gym taking pictures of the girls in the volleyball team, so he was pretty normal"
"Huh" Jo nodded.
"Well there was one thing…when he entered the classroom and was setting his stuff, I felt this chill you know, I don't know it was weird, I'd swear I could see my breath…but maybe I'm going crazy I mean this time of the year and suddenly is so cold I can see my breath?" He said honestly.
"I don't think you're crazy, I've seen some pretty weird stuff myself" Jo confessed.
They returned to the building, Oliver went back to class and Jo went back to their motel but first she stopped by the public library.
Dean and Sam went to the morgue first. They were pretty used to this kind of place by now. They showed an old short Doctor with incredibly thick glassed their credentials and he let them to the body they requested.
"I don't know how much more stupid can people get with TV these days?" the doctor said with a rough voice as he slowly pulled out the body form the storage.
"Beg your pardon?" Sam said.
"The person who did it, it was dumber than hell" the old doctor said.
"The person who did it? It was a suicide wasn't it?" Sam asked.
"Well you were told wrong. Ha! Suicide my ass!" the old guy laughed.
He showed them the body of Lenora Montgomery, she had light brown hair and a long nose, she was pale, but most impressive were her wrist, they were cut to the bone, two deep and long upward cuts, one in each hand.
"The nerves were cut… she could have done one but the other? Let alone the pain and the blood lost, she couldn't have moved her arm to cut the remaining one" the doctor explained although it was pretty clear to the Winchesters that she couldn't have done it when they first looked at the wounds.
"So what's the story?" Sam asked the old man.
"Hmm – the man growled grabbing Lenora's file – approximate time of death 4:30 pm, found her in the bathroom…" He began reading and handed the file to Sam.
"What about her voice?" Dean asked the doctor.
"What about it?" He replied confused.
"She couldn't speak, lost her voice suddenly and without and explanation" Dean explained.
"They didn't tell me any of that" The doctor explained.
They thanked the doctor and left. Next stop the Montgomery's house. They arrived to a small but beautiful house with a big very good taken care of garden. Dean parked the Impala in front of it, they walked to the door and rang the bell. A middle aged man opened the door, he had a military hair cut and wore a flannel shirt. He was confused to see the brothers, he didn't know them.
"Yes?"
"Hello, Mr Montgomery?" Sam asked.
"Yes" he repeated when he heard his name.
"We're with the CDC we're looking into your wife's case – Sam explained – we wanted to ask you some questions"
"Sure hmm come on in" he said and stepped away from the door.
The house looked great, clean and neat, he led them to a small living room, they sat in a long brown couch and Mr. Montgomery sat in a wooden chair in front of them.
"Nice house" Sam commented.
"Thanks is… my brother and sister in law came… you know to help me with the kid and the arrangements… she cleaned up" he explained.
"Mr. Montgomery – Sam started – did you notice anything estrange about your wife?"
"Yeah, she lost her voice five days before"
"How that happened?" Dean asked.
"I don't know really, we were having a snack and she just shut up…never talked again"
"What happened after it?"
"Honestly? ... – he asked mostly to himself – the best five days of my life, I took her to the hospital but they couldn't find anything so I brought her back home… my wife she… we didn't had exactly the best relationship – he took a deep breath – we were getting divorce, don't get me wrong… I loved her once, but those five days she couldn't talk, that we couldn't argue… it was… calm"
"The doctors couldn't find what was wrong?" Sam continued.
"Nope"
"And you're sure there was nothing weird with her when or before it happened?"
"Nothing at all, she was being the same old bitch" He said with a smile.
After Dean asked to use the restroom and searched the house for signs of something supernatural they thank Mr Montgomery and left. As they were going out a car pulled in the driveway. A younger man with dark brown hair came out of it with some paper bags.
"Hey is everything all right?" he asked confused.
"Yeah we were just asking Mr Montgomery, some questions" Sam explained showing his ID.
"What kind of questions?" The guy asked.
"About his wife… and you are?"
He gave the Winchesters a mean stare "I'm Eric, John's brother" he said pointing at the house.
Sam gave him a suspicious look "What can you tell us about what happened to Lenora?"
"Nothing I wasn't here but if you're trying to pin it on my brother you're lost 'cause the whole block was with him that day"
"Really?" Dean asked.
"Dammed right, it was the neighbour's barbeque"
"She was mute for apparently no explainable reason and they went to a barbeque?" Dean asked.
"That woman was all about calling attention, she was the hot gossip of the barbeque"
"You don't seem so shaken about her death" Dean said coldly.
"Should I? Look as far as I'm concern that bitch killed herself, the only thing she did good in her life, she was the worst wife and mother I've know… my little nephew almost died once because she left him unattended in the bathtub…she'd stepped outside for a smoke… she cheated on John and everyone in this town knows it… So am I sad? ... Not at all" he let it out angrily.
They made it back to their car driving back to their motel Dean told Sam what he had found out in the house.
"It's a ghost Sammy"
"Ghost?"
"When I stepped into the bathroom the EMF went nuts"
"Let's find out whose it is and burn it"
When they got to the motel they found Jo already looking for any suspicious deaths. After sharing what they had found out talking to the Montgomery's and the school principal. Jo showed them what she had found out this far.
"Similar deaths all the way to 1950, one every five years, victims lost their voice, and five days later they killed themselves" Jo said handing Sam a bunch of copies.
"Where did you get these" Sam asked.
"The library"
"I going to get us something to eat" Dean said and left.
Sam was reading some of the cases Jo had found when she said "Huh?" surprised.
"What? Found anything?" Sam asked taking his eyes of the paper he was reading.
"Think so, Larry Gray, a twenty year old singer, disappeared after recovering from an operation"
"And?"
"He left a suicide note apparently the operation had gone wrong – Jo read further – the doctor that operated him had been drunk while performing the surgery, he was charged with negligence and medical malpractice and went to prison"
"Does it say something else?" Sam asked.
"No, that's all"
Sam grabbed his laptop. He began to type very fast and after twenty minutes he had got it. "Here… Dr Frank Walker admitted into prison in 1952, after being found guilty of negligence and malpractice – Sam kept reading – found dead in his prison cell, he was stabbed in the stomach, bleed to death"
"I think Larry is our ghost"
"Why?"
"There aren't any deaths before him and I don't know, what if the surgery left him mute, that would have ruin his career, his life"
"It makes sense but it just says he killed himself by hanging himself from the bathroom shower" Sam agreed.
"Yeah but is not like we have other suspects…what I still don't get is why? What all these people had in common – Jo said grabbing the victim's files – why them?"
Sam flipped through some of them. Dean returned with the food and they shared with him what they thought.
"If it is a ghost we need to know where he is buried" Jo began.
"What about this" Sam said placing some files in the bed "1965 Fred Woods charged with fraud, 1970 Aaron Barnes's shop is closed for selling alcohol to minors, 1985 officer of the law found guilty of bribery and corruption"
"So?" Jo asked.
"So Lenora Montgomery, bad mother and wife, and Clyde Carr not exactly teacher of the year"
"None of those were doing their jobs properly" Dean said.
"Bingo" Sam replied.
"But what about the timing, usually was one every five years, why two now?"
"I don't know with all that's going on maybe the spirit is becoming stronger"
"Does it say where is Larry buried?" Jo asked.
"No guess we have to find out that"
"Lets eat before going graveyard digging ok?" Dean said and passed the Chinese food he had bought.
After eating they were on their way to the cemetery when Jo's phone rang, she picked it up.
"Hello?" … "Really?" "Oh…huh thanks for letting me know" She hanged up "That was the hospital Mr Carr killed himself"
"But it hasn't been five days since he lost his voice" Dean said.
"I know so what happened?"
"Maybe it's getting impatient" Sam suggested.
The graveyard was dark and big, they separated and looked for either a Larry Gray reading gravestone or an unmarked one. They found two unmarked graves. They dig up the first one, Sam's shovel hit the coffin, they backed out leaving Sammy to open it. When Sam lifted the lid a cloud of early decay hit his face, he turned away from it and tried not to breathe. This was definitely not Larry, the body was of an old woman and it was in the very early stages of decay, her skin was decomposing but still visible, her hair was curly and white. Sam climbed out of the grave and they filled it up again. They dig the other grave, this time Dean opened it, inside the wooden coffin there were only old bones.
"You think that's Larry?" Dean asked he was covered in dirt and sweat.
"I don't know but burning him can't hurt" Sam concluded throwing salt at the bones. They set him on fire and refilled the tomb.
"How do we know if it worked out?" Jo asked.
"Guess we wait a day or two" Sam told her.
"Well I don't know about you but I'm beat, I need a shower and some sleep" Dean told them and they returned to the motel.
Dean took a quick shower and dropped himself on his bed, he closed his eyes and quickly felt into a slight but comfortable sleep. Jo was in the room next to them, she had also showered and changed her clothes and was ready to get some sleep, she was brushing her teeth in the bathroom, she spit on the sink and looked at her reflection, suddenly she felt cold, she exhaled and saw her breath, she ran out of the bathroom to where she had put her bag but she tripped with something and fell. When she rolled on her back she saw him, Larry Gray, he was standing in the bathroom doorway, he was blond, had long hair and blue eyes, Jo hold his gaze for a moment then turned to reach her bag, she grabbed her shotgun but Larry had already teleported and was on top of her now, Jo heard a low but rough growl coming from his throat, he grabbed her neck and mumbled something she couldn't make out, she finally got a good grip on her shotgun and fired point blank at the ghost, Larry dissolved in the air, Jo stay on the floor breathing hard.
The shotgun blast was what woke Dean up, he jumped out of bed and met his brother's gaze for a very slight moment, he was thinking the same as him, it had come from Jo's room. They rushed out, Dean kicked open the door, they found Jo lying on the floor with her shotgun pointing up. Dean kneeled next to her.
"Are you ok?" He asked concerned while Sam inspected the room.
"Clear" Sam said and joined his brother.
Dean helped Jo straightened up, she tried to say "I'm ok" but no sound came out of her, realizing of this Jo placed her hands around her throat scared.
"You're mute aren't you? Sam asked already knowing the answer. Jo simply nodded and kept her gaze on the floor.
"Don't worry we'll find the son of a bitch" Dean assured her.
"Guess the body we burned wasn't Larry" Sam said disappointed.
"Guess not" Dean agreed.
Jo moved her hand in front of them trying to say something "Wait" Dean said and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from the nigh table "Here" he handed them to her and she wrote: "What do we do now?"
"I think you should sleep in our room… so we can keep and eye on you" Dean said helping her to her feet.
Jo went to their room. They stayed up late trying to find out where Larry could have been buried. Sam and Jo were working on their laptops; Dean was salting the windows and doors. When he finished he loaded his shotgun with salt rock and sat on his bed next to Jo. He looked at her, she was worried, she typed and read as fast as she could, desperately looking for a clue that could lead them to where the body was buried. Dean noticed and took the computer away from her. Jo gave him a confused look.
"Sam and I'll look for this, try to get some rest" Dean told her.
She tried to take the computer back but Dean didn't give in. She managed to type: "I won't be able to"
"Try then 'cause I'm not giving it back" Dean said keeping the laptop out of Jo's reach so she couldn't type. She held Dean's gaze for a moment and saw the determination in his eyes. She laid her head in the pillow, closed her eyes and tried to sleep.
"This is actually cool, you're less annoying and stubborn" Dean joked and Jo slapped his arm.
Sam and Dean searched all night without any luck. Dean was as concentrated as Jo had been. "The library will open in two hours, I'm gonna get a coffee maybe you should try to get some sleep yourself" Sam said putting on his jacket and going out. Dean closed the laptop and set it aside within minutes he was out.
Jo woke up, she opened her eyes, she gazed around and saw it was morning, Sam was gone, and Dean, Dean had fallen asleep next to her, but what made her heart skip a beat in both sadness and happiness, was that Dean's arm was wrapped protectively around her, his hand was on her hand, and it felt good, it felt warm, it felt safe. He moved and Jo closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. Dean stretched and stood up, after he was off the bed Jo pretended waking up, she stretched too and rubbed her eyes.
"Hey" Dean said.
"Hi" Jo replied although no word came out but Dean understood and met her eyes.
"We're heading to the library, see if we can find any record of where the guy was buried" he said swallowing hard.
When Sammy got back they went to the library and read each and every one of the records they had of the 50's looking for something, anything. They worked all day, they didn't eat, didn't drink, they just read and search and got nothing, by the time the sun was setting, they had read through all the files, there was absolutely nothing related to Larry Gray. Defeated Jo went for a walk, she needed time to think, during their search Dean had asked Sam if he had any idea why the ghost had attacked her, Sammy said he didn't know and so did she, but she had a pretty good idea, she was a hunter who was selling out her friends to an arrogant turd that pulled rabbits out of hats, she felt suffocated, she was doomed but that wasn't as bad as she thought, she would die and would be useless to Nicholas, Dean and Sam would manage to hunt the son of a bitch and free her mother, and they would be fine, he would be fine. As if summoning him with her thought Dean caught up to her, and walked with her.
"Are you ok?" he asked. Jo didn't lift his gaze from the ground. "Don't worry we'll figure something up" He tried to cheer her up, Jo looked up she took a pen form her pocket and grabbed Dean's hand
"I thought you couldn't stand me" she wrote.
"I don't… but… I don't know I guess you're not so bad after all, specially when you don't talk so much"
She grabbed his hand again "That's 'cause you know I kick your ass with the pranks"
"Ha yeah right… you didn't had a chance, if it weren't for Sammy you'll be cursing me right now" he said.
"Come on… the laundry, you had to see that coming" She wrote next.
"In that case, come on... who goes to sleep after pranking the guy next door" Dean said laughing.
She grabbed his hand again. Her writing was invading his arm already and wrote "Jerk"
They walked in silence for a while when they got to the hotel they stopped and looked at each other, they looked like a couple of teenagers after a first date.
"I'll get some stuff from my room" she wrote grabbing his arm again.
"Yeah I'll go…wash my arm I guess" he said and turned to leave, Jo held her grip on his arm and stopped him, she wrote something else, Dean looked down to read it but Jo gave him a small kiss on the lips. Then she let go of him and entered her room. Dean stood there for a moment not knowing what to do, finally he looked at his arm it said "Thank you"
Jo closed the door behind her, she was about to analyze what just had happened when she heard a noise, she automatically grabbed her shotgun and raised it, turning she saw a face she hated with all her guts.
"Hi there" Benjamin greeted her.
What are you doing here? She thought with her shotgun still raised.
"Easy with the claws Johanna, I'm here to help" he informed her.
Jo lowered her weapon although she didn't want to, and wrote in a piece of paper: "Help? How?"
"With your ghost…I know where he is body is" Benjamin said licking his lower lip.
"Where?" she wrote on the other side of the paper.
"Right down to it? I don't think so…why don't you ask the real question that came to your head – Jo stayed quiet so he kept on talking – why? You ask yourself why we bother helping?" Jo tried to keep her face straight but he knew, he knew exactly what was going on in her head. "You're important to us, is stupid actually I don't know why Nick's wasting his time, he should use just any other bastard, but he wants Dean Winchester, so we need you and there's no way we're letting you get killed" he explained as he walked around the room.
Jo still looked at him she didn't want to hear this so she remarked the "Where" she had written on the paper.
"Wait there's more – He said getting her impatience – I want you to know better than try anything funny or idiotic or suicidal, we're paying attention, we're watching you, and trust me you've done a great job so far… - he made a pause – I mean that walk with Dean, heart-melting" he said touching his chest.
"You bastard, son of a bitch" Jo screamed forgetting no word would come out and grabbed her shotgun.
Benjamin just laughed "Go ahead, it would only hurt Benji inside here" He approached and placed himself right in front of the cannon his black eyes were shinning in delight, there was a long pause, but Jo didn't pull the trigger.
"So the info on your ghost is in your computer, just act like you found it – He reached for her and caressed her cheek, Jo slapped his hand away – we'll be in touch…" he said and turned to leave "Oh and Johanna…remember: The bigger the fool, the harder the fall" He said without looking back then disappeared.
Jo fell on her knees and cried. She felt a strong disgust, not disgust didn't began to cover it, the felling of impotence was crushing and it made her ache, it hurt all the way to the deepest of her soul. She wept in complete silence for a minute or two then she picked herself up and cleaned her face, she got the stuff she had come for and went to the brother's room. Dean was coming out of the room, probably to look for her.
"There you are… I was staring to worry" he said. Jo just walk pass him.
She sat on the bed and turned on he laptop, Dean walked into the room and sat next to her, as soon as his body touched the bed, Jo stood up and went to sit to a chair by the window. Dean was confused she could see it but she didn't mind, Benjamin's word echoed in her head The bigger the fool, the bigger the fall, she could, at least, soft the fall a little. She found the information Benjamin had spoken of, and old factory were Larry's father worked, closed and abandoned just outside town, it was too son now, she would pretend to search harder for a while. In time Sam went to sleep and Dean took over his computer.
"Are you ok? You look…disturbed" he asked at last.
Jo grabbed a piece of paper and wrote she tossed to Dean, it said: "Really Einstein? Wouldn't that be because I might die here?" Dean's smile faded as he saw this.
"I'm just worried about you, you know?" Dean said disguising hurt with anger.
Jo picked up another paper and wrote she threw it at Dean, it fell on the bed next to him he opened it: "You don't need to I can take care of myself!" she could see it hurt him, she could see what was left of the happiness of their walk going off like the switch of a lamp in his eyes.
He didn't spoke to her again. After a reasonable period of time passed she threw him another paper standing up: "Found it"
Dean woke his brother up. They drove the Impala to the factory, they found him on the basement, mostly it was a skeleton with clothes, he had made of the place some kind of studio, there was an old record player and a guitar, surrounding the skeleton on the floor there was a big rusty and faded stain of blood that would stay forever on the wood boards, in his hand was an old silver knife. They salted and burned him. When the fire consumed him she regained her voice. They left town the next morning Sam driving, Jo in the passenger's seat and Dean in the back sleeping.