Supernatural: The Magnificent Seven
A/N: Here's the final chapter for this story, folks. I hope you all have been enjoying this story and please let me know what you think.
Read, review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Supernatural or Criminal Minds. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.
CHAPTER THREE: "WHO WAS THAT MASKED CHICK?"
"And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns."
Revelation 17:7
The sun was just barely rising when Sam and Dean shoved the last body into the mass grave they'd dug and were pouring salt and gasoline onto the three bodies when they were joined by Bobby and Liz.
"Well, you both look like hell warmed over," Dean commented and winced when Liz hit his arm hard.
"You try exorcising all night and see how you feel," Bobby said roughly since his throat was raw from chanting constantly.
"My throat hurts," Liz moaned and gratefully took the water bottle that Sam offered. "Thanks."
Sam glanced across the field, where Tamara was burning her late husband's body. "Do you think Tamara will be all right?" he wondered, sensing her sorrow and grief, and also determination.
Bobby shrugged. "In time maybe."
"What about the two that did make it?" Dean asked, thinking of the overweight guy and the blonde waitress that had been taken to the hospital earlier after freeing them from Sloth and Lust.
"After a lifetime of therapy and bills, plus nightmares, they'll be fine," Liz said tiredly.
"Here's what I want to know, who was that masked chick?" Dean asked, referring to the mysterious woman that'd saved Sam's life. "And since when is there a demon-killing blade?"
"That's the first time that I'd heard of a blade that can kill a demon," Bobby admitted.
Liz frowned. "Sam, can you describe that knife again?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah, it looked almost military, but it had these engravings on the blade, and it had a wooden handle – wait, isn't that the same knife-"
"It has to be the same knife that Jed threatened Azazel with when he was possessing me," Liz confirmed. "Azazel was scared of that blade, and the other demons were, too."
"Again I ask, "who was that masked chick"?" Dean repeated, looking at Sam. "And how come a girl can fight better than you?"
Sam scowled. "Shut up, jerk."
"Bitch."
"You're both insane," Liz told her brothers while Bobby rolled his eyes.
Chuckling, Dean lit up a packet of matches and tossed it into the grave.
Penelope was working on her Blog when one of her computers beeped and she checked one of her programs, and frowned at what she saw. "Oh boy." And promptly speed-dialed a number.
`"Hotchner."`
"Hotch, its Penelope," she said urgently. "Henriksen's on the move."
`"Where?"`
"Provo, Utah," Penelope answered, typing away. "It looks like he's going there to interview the Idris family and their friends. He must've found that missing person that was filed when Hannah and Ricky were grabbed."
Hotch sighed. `"Alert Lloyd, Garcia, and I'll let the Winchesters know."`
"Will do," Penelope promised. "Oh! And I've been able to id the men that broke Gordon out."
`"Email them to the team, Bobby, the Winchesters, and also Ellen and Jo, plus to the Idris family,"` Hotch ordered.
"Yes, sir."
Provo, Utah
Idris Trucking Co…
Lloyd was in his office, going through paperwork when his phone rang and pushed a button with his pencil. "Idris Trucking, Lloyd speaking."
`"Hey, it's Penelope Garcia."`
"Hey, sweetie," said Lloyd, making a notation on a report, "what can I do for you?"
`"Well, I just emailed you info about what's going on with Gordon Walker and the men that broke him out,"` Penelope told him. `"And I wanted to give you a heads up that Special Agent Victor Henriksen is heading your way."`
'I saw that coming,' Lloyd thought sighing. "Thanks, Penelope, I'll alert my family and give my lawyer the heads up."
`"No problem."`
After pushing the button again, Lloyd picked up the phone this time and speed dialed a number. "Elvis, it's your dad. The feds are coming."
Lincoln, NE…
After saving goodbye to Tamara, Bobby and the Winchesters were loading up their gear into the cars when Dean's phone rang. "Hello?"
`"Dean, it's Hotch."`
"Hey, Hotch, any sign of Gideon?" Dean asked, switching his phone to speaker.
`"Not yet, and Reid's heading up to Gideon's cabin,"` Hotch answered. `"The reason that I'm calling is because Henriksen is heading to Provo, Utah, and Garcia just sent you what we have on Gordon and the hunters helping him."`
Dean, Liz, and Sam exchanged an alarmed look with Bobby, not sure of what to make of this.
"Why is Henriksen goin' to Utah?" Sam asked, mildly surprised that the fed hadn't already gone there yet and was also worry, too.
`"According to Garcia, Henriksen had only just found the missing person's filed when Hannah and Ricky were first taken by the demons,"` Hotch responded. `"Garcia's warning Lloyd right now, and hopefully he can be ready when the times come."`
"Same here," Liz agreed, voicing their hopes that their LDS friends would be able to deal with Henriksen.
After talking a bit more with Hotch, they finished backing up, and headed off to work new cases.
"I got a hit."
"Talk to me, Hawkeye," Gordon requested, turning from the map, where he'd been pinpointing possible special children who were still alive and, in his mind, needed to be eliminated.
"Okay, the only other person who died before the disappearances is Max Miller," Hawkeye reported, handing Gordon a picture of Max. "He was born during the same time as Sam Winchester, had his mom die in a nursery fire when he was six months old, and, according, to police reports, committed suicide two years ago with a gun that matches the one used by Dean Winchester."
"So, the Winchesters were there?" Gordon asked.
Hawkeye nodded. "Yup, and I did some further diggin' and found the reason why. A couple days before Max killed himself, his father apparently locked himself in his own car, gassing himself to death. The next night, his uncle's head got chopped off by having a window drop on his neck."
"So, Max killed both his father and his uncle," Gordon remarked, "and I suppose the Winchesters tried to talk him down with some claim that he isn't evil and failed."
Hawkeye shrugged. "Hard to say, the stepmother told the police that Max was overwhelm with grief, got a gun from somewhere, and she called on some friends, AKA the Winchesters, to help, but they were too late."
Gordon scoffed, pinning up the picture. "Of course she would lie instead of admitting that he was a freak of nature, a monster."
"According to the police reporters, Max may've had a legit reason for killin' his dad and uncle," Hawkeye added. "It seems that shortly after his mom's death, he was physically abused almost constantly by his dad and his uncle, not that they could get anyone in the family to admit it."
Gordon raised his eyebrows. "Hmm, maybe so, but I'm certain that Max wouldn't have stop killin' and so it's no loss that he's dead. However, I want to talk to the stepmother."
"Probably not a good idea," Hawkeye cautioned. "After Max killed himself, it pushed her over the edge, and she's locked up under permanent suicide watch."
"I'll be gentle," Gordon promised, but it was obvious that he didn't care about that sort of stuff.
"Uh, Gordon, I found a second pattern," Kirk announced, frowning.
"What're you talkin' about?" Gordon asked, turning to him.
"Well, it looks like not all of these special children had nursery fires," Kirk explained. "In fact, a fair number were born in the year 1982, makin' them a year older than the rest, and a few of them are still alive."
Gordon examined the map and the info they'd obtained and realized that he was right. "Kirk, id the ones that fall into this new pattern, and figure out which ones are still alive and where they're currently livin', the sooner we get rid of them, the better."
"I'll get right on it," said Kirk, sitting down at a computer and began typing.
'I don't know how many of these monsters are still alive,' Gordon thought, grabbing his cell phone to make a call, 'but the world will be a better place once they're all dead.'
`"…if you see any of them, don't approach them and inform the police right away, for they're consider highly dangerous,"` JJ told the reporters at the press conference that Hotch had requested to help with the nationwide hunt for Gordon Walker and his associates Kubrick, Creedy, Hawkeye, Kirk, and several others that Ellen had help id for the BAU as being responsible for Gordon's escape.
Hotch watched the whole thing on the TV in his office while idly playing with his wedding ring, and was wondering what Hailey and Jack were doing right now. 'I know I promised, but the team needs me, too.'
He was pulled from his thoughts when there was a knock on the door, and he looked around to see Section Chief Erin Strauss in the doorway. "Chief Strauss."
"Agent Hotchner," said Strauss, stepping into the office and shutting the door. "You have a few minutes?"
"Yes, ma'am," said Hotch, gesturing to the chair across from his desk.
"Thank you." Strauss sat down and gave him a piercing look. "I've just watched the press conference concerning the hunt for Gordon Walker and the men that broke him out, and I'm wondering whether it's a waste of resources?"
"Ma'am, if you read the report I handed in, then you know that the sort of threat that Gordon Walker poses," Hotch told her, "including how he almost killed Agent Morgan and myself, and also threaten us both after he was arrested."
"I've read the report," Strauss confirmed. "However-"
"There isn't a "however" when it comes to Gordon Walker," Hotch cut in, ignoring her reproachful look. "Ma'am, this man has tortured and killed all over the United States, and is also wanted by the Mexican government, too. Also, when those men ambushed the transfer bus, they left the driver in a coma, one prison guard with both a broken arm and a concussion, the other guard was shot and killed by Gordon, and the remaining prisoners were left behind. Plus, the guard that was killed, he has political connections, and his family's demanding that we find Gordon and his associates as soon as possible, and I fully intend to find him before he kills anyone else."
Strauss was momentarily stunned by Hotch's boldness, but she then recovered. "And I'm sure that you and your team will do that, Aaron. However, there is another matter that I wish to discuss with you."
"And what matter is that?" Hotch asked, and had a feeling that it would be about a limited number of topics.
"The Winchesters."
Hotch repressed a sigh. 'Of course.' "What about the Winchesters?"
"I'm fully aware that your team found proof that Dean Winchester didn't kill those girls in St Louise two years ago," Strauss told him, "and had their records cleared, but the deputy director is insistent that they be brought in and take some responsibility for their actions."
"Ma'am, no offense, but the Winchesters have already done that, and are continuing to do so by saving lives," Hotch pointed out, "and they have also saved the lives of every member of this team many times."
"I understand that, however," Strauss stressed, "I must insist that you and your team stop interfering with Agent Henriksen's search for the Winchesters."
"Very well," Hotch said, reluctantly agreeing to the terms while making a mental note to have Penelope keep putting out red herrings to cover the Winchesters' tracks.
Pleased, Strauss stood and left the office. Hotch sighed, feeling a headache developing when there was another knock, and he looked up to see Reid, who was looking paler than usual. "Reid?"
"I – I went to the cabin," Reid stammered, prompting Hotch to stand and go to him. "And, well, Gideon had been there and – and he took all his stuff." He swallowed. "A-all I found was his badge, h-his gun, and t-this letter a-addressed to me."
Hotch felt his heart sink upon hearing that, but he masked his feelings and got Reid to sit down, gently taking the three items, and then called Emily, JJ, Morgan, and Penelope, who was passing through, over to his office.
"Reid's back, and he has news about Gideon."
After a few minutes of calming Reid down, getting the full story, and reading the letter, the BAU team was stunned by the fact that Gideon was gone and he wasn't coming back.
"What should we do?" Morgan asked, shaken by the news.
"I'll have to let Strauss know about Gideon," Hotch concluded. "Garcia, I need you to email this letter to the Winchesters; JJ, I need you and Morgan to make sure that Reid gets home safely."
While all of this was happening, Emily returned to her desk, mulling over all that'd happen since the opening of the Devil's Gate four weeks ago, including Strauss trying to have her spy on Hotch, and was now wondering who would take over Gideon's position on the team. 'This is going to be a long year.'
Ellen and Jo were back at Bobby's home when Bobby and the Winchesters got there; now Ellen was cooking dinner, Bobby was tinkering with the Colt, Jo was in the hidden room with Dean and Sam, looking through the extensive library, and Liz was doing research on Sam's laptop.
'If we can get the Colt working, then there's a chance that we can use it on the demon that holds my contract,' Liz thought and blinked when Sam's email box beeped. "Sam, you've got mail."
Sam came out of the hidden room, took over his laptop, opened the email, and read it out loud. "Hey, guys, I got some bad news for ya…"
"I can't believe that Gideon just up and left."
They were all stunned by the email that Penelope had sent them: they knew that Gideon had been left emotionally traumatized when a unsub named Frank had murdered his college sweetheart Sarah, a young woman named Rebecca, and had kidnapped a little girl named Molly before committing suicide with a woman named Jane by jumping in front of an incoming train.
But it was the incident at a college, where the team been called in to look for a certain unsub, who had been killing brunette women despite the increase of security and putting in security cameras; in the end, a disturbed girl killed the unsub and then killed herself.
It was after this that Hotch had been suspended for two weeks without pay, and Gideon left, having had enough: clearly the stress of the job had overwhelmed him and he'd left a letter to Reid that explained everything, including that he was sorry that he couldn't be there to help them out with Liz's deal, and that he needed to find himself and the belief of happy endings again.
"We all have breaking points," Bobby pointed out, "and I guess he reached his."
"First Elle and now Gideon," Dean muttered, clearly not happy about any of this.
Reaching the conclusion that there was nothing that they could do for Gideon, they all went back to doing what they've been doing earlier…preparing for the war to come.
A/N: And that's all, folks! R&R everyone!