KABUKI JOE!
10
A/N: I DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT OWN SUPERNATURAL
(AND AS ALWAYS, PLEASE, READ & REVIEW! THANKS!!!)
A/N: I don't know the exact lore of shape shifters, so I'm taking liberties with this story. Also, along with this story being labeled as supernatural/humor, there is also crime/mystery to it. I hope you enjoy it.
WARNING: I'm take great liberties with an actual person from history, and adlibbing a bit (only because I can not find any information about her, just her mother.)
"Okay," Dean said slowly, "so you first became a wise old man, and then became a sheriff."
He then looked over at Joe, and asked him. "So, Joey, what human did you first encountered?"
"I became my charge's mother." Joe shrugged.
"Mother?" Dean's eyebrows shot up in alarm.
"Yes, the poor girl and her sister missed their mommy terrible," Joe sighed, "so I changed into their mother, while she was working."
"So, what kind of work did she do?" Sam asked.
"She was an actress of the theater."
"An actress?" Sam echoed.
"Go figure." Dean thought to himself.
"Wait," Joe muttered as he fished into the rather deep pockets of his long coat and pants, "I have a picture of us somewhere…"
Dean and Sam glanced at one another, and then back at Joe who was still digging in his pockets.
"Y-you have a picture of your charge and her mother?" Sam asked in amazement.
"As well, as her sister," Joe said as he pulled out an old photograph from his left pants pocket. "Voila! And …us," he added as he handed Dean the photo.
It was an old photograph of a mother with two small girls, each holding Persian cats in her lap.
One of the cats appeared to be looking in the camera, while the other looked away as if distracted by something.
"So, you were a cat?" Dean said holding the photograph up so that Sam could see it.
Sam looked at it, trying to remember where he had seen the mother in the photograph before.
"So, what were you called," Dean asked with a smirk, "Fluffy? Kitty? I know…Princess."
"Princess was the name of my charge's sister's cat," Joe shrugged, "I was called Duchess."
"Duchess?" Dean snorted.
"Let me see that photo, will you?" Sam asked as Joe snatched it from Dean's grasp, and handed it to Sam.
Sam continued to study the photograph.
"I've seen this woman before?" Sam muttered to himself.
Dean raised an eyebrow in question.
"In one a history class," Sam explained, "at Stanford."
"You went to Stanford?" Joe asked incredulously. "So, what did you study?"
"Sammy here majored in Pre-law." Dean announced proudly as he looked over at his kid brother.
Sam didn't acknowledge anyone; he just continued looking at the old photograph.
"Um, Sammy?' Dean looked over at him.
"Where have I seen her before?" Sam asked no one in particular.
Joe looked down at the photograph.
"Oh, that's Miss Keene." Joe shrugged.
"You mean as in the Laura Keene?" Sam's eyes widened.
"Who?" Dean asked confusedly.
"Dean," Sam explained, "Laura Keene was the actress that starred in the play…um…"
"Our American Cousin" Joe interjected.
"That's right!"
"I still don't understand…" Dean said shaking his head at Sam's excitement over some dead woman.
"You know," Sam continued to explain. "The Ford Theater?"
Dean looked at him in silence.
Sam rolled his eyes at his brother for not seeing the connection.
"Lincoln? Assassination?"
Dean's eye's widened as it became clear to him what Sam was telling him.
"So, what you are saying," Dean said slowly as he processed the information, "the dead chick in this photo was in the play at the time when Booth shot Ol' Abe?"
Sam nodded in excitement at the discovery.
Dean looked at the photograph once more; then shrugged.
"Sammy," he stated drily, "I know how exciting it is for a geek boy like you. But, if you still haven't noticed, we're still tied up."
Sam looked at his brother, nodding that he understood where his brother was coming from.
Right now was not the time for a history lesson. Right now was the time to find out what these two wanted.
"So, what is it you want from us?" Dean asked when he saw that his brother understood him.
"Right," Zoë smiled. "You leave us alone so that we can figure out who are killing these young women…"
"We," Joe gasped. "What do you mean by 'we'?"
"And we'll help you to get Hendrickson off your backs."
Dean and Sam looked at each other.
"Zoë," Joe protested. "What do you mean 'we'? If you think I'm to play detective with you, you have another think coming. It's bad enough when you change in one of those victims just so you can see who killed them…"
"You can do that?" Sam asked curiously.
"As long as their brain hasn't completely deteriorates," Zoë shrugged, "I can get an image from the victim of the last person she saw. I use to do it all the time."
"Yes, but it always wears you out." Joe complained.
"Why's that?" Dean asked.
"It's one thing to take over a live person," Zoë explained, "and retrieve her memory. It's a little harder to retrieve information from one that has been dead for a while. I admit it can be quite a strain on me. But, if that's the only way to find out who's been killing these young women…"
"We can help you," Sam offered as he looked at his brother.
Dean looked over at Sam, and then realized what his brother was getting at.
"Sure," he nodded. "We can give you a hand if you untie us."
"It might be dangerous." Zoë warned.
"We're hunters, remember?" Dean shrugged. "We live for danger."
Sam nodded in agreement.
"Well, I guess you could…" She started, "but what about the children?"
"What about them?" Joe asked as he ruffled Jimmy's hair.
"I promised their parents that I'd watch them."
"Oh, fiddlesticks, Zoë," Joe laughed. "I can do that."
"You sure you don't have anything better to do?" Zoë asked. "Like going to the theater, or something…"
"I can go over the songs with Mike and Josie here." Joe replied as he went over to them, and put a hand on each child's shoulder.
"All right," Zoë agreed. "You stay here while these two and I return to the morgue…"
"So, where are these kids' parents anyway?" Dean asked as Zoë began to untie him.
"Well, Josie and Ned's mother and these three's father," Zoë explained pointing to the other three children, "work as law enforcement officers.
"You mean they're cops?" Dean swallowed.
"Yes, Kim Thatcher, Josie and Ned's mother, told me about the killings," she explained. "I told that I use to capture the bad guys in my time. So, she asked me if I could help out with this case since they had no clues. Plus…"
"Plus what?" Dean asked.
"Well, three of my tenants have gone missing," she explained, "all of them were young college age women. They may still be alive."
"How do you figure?" Sam asked as Joe started to untie him.
"The killer abducts each of his victims," Zoë explained, "and drops their bodies two weeks later."
"How long did they go missing?" Sam asked.
"One of them went missing five days ago," Zoë replied, "the other two have been missing for since last Tuesday."
"That was a week ago, Dean." Sam stated soundly. "They may still be alive."
"So, what are we waiting for?" Dean asked as he stood up after being completely untied. "We have a freaking psycho out there to catch."
TBC
A/N: Well, here's another chapter, please, let me know what you think about it.
Sorry if it's been a while. My hours have changed during winter break at my place of employment, so I haven't had the time to write anything.
Right now I'm at my younger sister's house in Orlando Florida (I'm from Lawrence Kansas myself) writing this chapter.
By the way, today (December 21st) is not only my first year anniversary of joining it's also my birthday!