Calling in a Marker
by Criminally Charmed
Disclaimer - Not mine. If it was, I can think of some serious changes I would have done to last night's episode. Kinda sad, although I did have so much hope for the brothers in that one h/c moment (I think you know which one I mean).
And this chapter is for Sammygirl1963. Jean has always been there for all of us and I hope that she knows how much she means to us. Our prayers are with you and your other family (you know, the non-cyber one).
Chapter ten
Dean rushed over to his brother's side, terrified that this so-called simple salt and burn had cost him his brother. It was an old fear, one that had existed since their father had first started insisting that Sammy accompany them on hunts. Unlike Dean, who had been chomping at the bit to be allowed to hunt by John's side, Sam had never wanted to hunt with the same passion as the rest of his family.
Kneeling down beside Sam's still form, Dean felt for any broken bones before gently turning his brother over. "Sammy?" he called softly, his buried fears causing a tremor in his voice as he spoke. "Please, Sam…wake up. You can't let some damn spook get you." Leaning in closer, he patted his brother's face.
"Ununs…" Sam whispered, his face scrunching up.
Dean's face broke into a wide grin. "Sam! You scared the hell out of me." Dean froze at the irony of his words, before shaking off the feeling the phrase brought out, returning his attention to his younger brother's groaning form next to him. Leaning in closer, he reached out a gentle hand and squeezed Sam's shoulder, giving it a slight shake as he tried to rouse his younger sibling. Dean heard more than saw as Sam's jean-clad legs began scraping across the oak floor as he shifted, grimacing as his rolled slightly side to side.
"Onions."
His face now twisted in confusion, Dean became worried again that Sam may have suffered a more severe head injury and not just the small bump and abrasion on his forehead.
Stretching and in obvious pain, Sam's face scrunched up even further as his aquamarine eyes came fully open, startling his brother so that at first Dean didn't follow what Sam was saying. "Dean, c'mon. I told you, if you had the steak smothered in onions, you were to brush your teeth. Man that stinks."
Sitting back on his haunches, Dean began to chuckle as what his brother's words finally made sense. "Well, Sleeping Beauty, whatever it takes to wake you from your enchanted slumber. Cause I ain't Patrick Dempsey and I am not about to kiss you."
"Patrick…" Sam's mind wandered as he allowed his brother to help him sit up. Then he began to chuckle. "Enchanted? Seriously, Dean. You've seen it? It's a Disney flick about a princess lost in New York."
"OK, first, it was a classic story of good over evil, had a great fight scene and that dragon was cool…But most of all, that chick was seriously hot in the wet gown. You could see everything."
Anything Sam would have responded to his brother was cut off by the harsh light flashed at them and the sharp bark from the doorway. "Freeze! Police."
Virgil Tracy watched as his sister-in-law patted his wife on the leg, before standing up and softly saying something to Sarah. Walking away from where Sarah sat quietly on the porch swing, Kate's expression grew firm and her eyes narrowed when she saw her middle brother-in-law lounging in the doorframe. Tucking back a strand of ebony hair, she stalked across the lanai, her athletic form radiating a protective vibe that must have made suspects quake - and still intimidated board members, making the toughest men quake in their boots. Coming to a halt in front of the younger and - unfortunately for him - shorter Tracy, Kate punched him in the shoulder.
"Ow! Kate that hurt," Virgil tried – and failed – to keep a whine out of his voice.
"Good," Kate responded sharply. "You tell me, Virgil Grissom Tracy – what would Scott have done to anyone who hurt one of his younger brothers?"
"He would have cheerfully ripped them to shreds," Virgil answered grimly.
"Well, I consider Sarah one of my younger sisters. She's been hurt enough lately. You make it worse; I make your life miserable." That said, Kate stalked into the main house to meet with Jeff on the other family business.
Walking over to the swing, Virgil sat down at the other end, giving Sarah plenty of space as he pushed off lightly, making the seat move once more. He smiled at his son, bouncing and laughing in his aunt's arms. Michael was not one who warmed quickly to strangers, but Tin-Tin had been in his life all along. The family had always known Alan would marry the pretty Malaysian girl and the children had been calling her Auntie Tin-Tin since they could speak. Julie moved forward, holding DJ closely, the little boy having adored her since Kate had first started bringing her "protégé" back to the island. Alan sat on the edge of the pool, his feet dangling in the water where he repeatedly dipped his youngest nephew, holding him securely. The baby's high giggles were echoed by his cousins.
Virgil's fascination with watching the antics of the younger Tracys (he was fairly sure he was including Alan in the group) brought him into a fugue that he was pulled out of when he felt Sarah begin to lean against him. Raising an arm, he drew his wife closer to him, reflecting on just how precious beside him was. As Sarah leaned her head into his shoulder, Virgil inhaled the scent of her hair and smiled at the realization that she still used the green apple shampoo she had used in high school, even as he silently chuckled at himsfelf for having never noticed that before.
"I think I loved you even when we were kids," Virgil said softly, twirling a wayward auburn curl around his finger. "But you were a constant, something always there, just like one of my brothers. I know I took advantage of you in how I treated you. I just expected you to be there, helping me whenever needed…helping all of my family. It wasn't until you were gone that I realized how precious a part of my life you were. There was a hole in my heart that was never filled again until you came back into my world."
Sarah quietly asked, "And now?" She knew she was asking more than how he felt and was asking for his trust and support in this trying time.
Kissing her on the head, Virgil smiled as held her close. Looking over at their son, he smiled indulgently, placing a hand on her stomach where their next child rested securely. "And now my heart is more than filled – it's overflowing."
Dean glared repeatedly at Deputy Dumbass (he knew the man's name was Dutton, it was the principle of the matter). It had been almost an hour since the man had shown up at Woodbury House and pulled the brothers away from their latest (thankfully completed) job. As he pressed a bandana against Sam's head – the cut needed stitches – Dean tried once more to reason with the man.
"Listen, my brother needs medical attention. Will you at least let me get the first aid kit from our car…"
"Your vehicle is still back at the crime scene. And the two of you aren't going anywhere until I get a report back on your finger prints," the obnoxious law enforcement officer took delight in informing Dean. "And then, the only place you will be going is to a holding cell."
"Can't you at least take the cuffs off of my brother?" Dean asked, biting the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from screaming useless - if emotionally satisfying - obsenities at the man.
"Proper protocol dictates that perps are handcuffed when outside of holding cells," Dutton snidely remarked.
"Deputy…" Sam closed his eyes again, the bright lights of the Bailey Sheriff's Department making his pounding head scream in agony. "Sorry…can't remember your name. Or did you forget to give it to us when you failed to read us our rights? Or when you forgot that we are entitled to a phone call?"
"You'll get all that when the Sheriff comes in the morning. And what do you think you are, a lawyer?" Sam glowered at Dutton's words, never having forgotten what the supernatural had cost him in his dreams.
Rolling his eyes, Dean snapped, "Just call Paula Segal. She'll tell you that we were supposed to be there. That's how we got the key and the security code."
"First," Dutton said, "I am not calling anyone this late. Second, are you saying that she was in on it?" Tilting his head, the deputy continued, "I told the Sheriff we needed to beef up patrols over by the Tracy place. But no, and look what happened."
Sam kept his eyes shut as he responded, "But the Tracys' house is secured and most of the furniture is in storage.'
"Casing it, huh?" Dutton sneered.
"Paula told me when we were talking earlier," Sam sighed, exhausting increasing the lines of pain in his face.
Concerned for his brother's well-being, Dean was getting furious. "Listen, if you won't call Paula, call Sarah Tracy. She'll vouch for us."
"Maybe I will call the Tracys," Dutton said imperiously. "I'm sure Mr. Tracy would be mighty grateful I stopped you from breaking into his property."
"I said Sarah Tracy, not Jeff Tracy," Dean snapped. "We were at the Woodbury House not the Tracys'."
Dutton shook his head, looking through some papers. "I remember Sarah Woodbury. She was a chubby geek with coke bottle glasses and a mouthful of braces. Wonder how she managed to snare a Tracy? Of course, Jeff Tracy always thought the world of her. Maybe he got his son to marry her to make him happy."
"First," Dean mimicked the deputy's earlier rant, "Jeff Tracy only wants his sons to be happy. He would never make any of his sons marry someone they didn't love. And dude, you so haven't seen Sarah Tracy lately have you?"
"What's to see? I remember her and I doubt she looks much different. Now, her sister Holly…she was hot! Blonde, green eyes with a smoking body. Her I could have seen as a rich guy's wife. She was something else."
"Yeah," Dean bitched, "she was a real winner."
Dean's sarcasm went right over the deputy, who was focused on the computer screen. "Huh. No hits at all on your prints and nothing in CODIS."
"So are you willing to consider we just might be innocent?" Dean snapped, worried at how quiet Sam had been.
Dutton stood up and walked over to the Sheriff's office, pulling open a drawer. Snatching up a small book, he walked back over to his desk. "Got Jeff Tracy's number here. Bet I can call him and see what he says." Looking over at the brother, he smirked. "We even have vid phones here. Mr. Tracy donated two of them earlier this year."
"No big, we have one on my laptop," Sam quietly said. "The Tracys gave it to us."
"Right," Dutton smirked. "You probably stole that, too."
Dean was ready to jump the jerk, handcuffs or not. But Sam's hand on his arm calmed him and together they waited. Whatever Tracy the man talked to would clear them, which was all that mattered.
Kate Tracy rubbed her eyes. She needed to pull the data together for the new project so that when she presented it to the board, there would be no delays in the work; they could hit the ground running if she had all her ducks in order. "Ohhh," Kate groaned. She would love to have Julie's help with this, but had impulsively given the younger woman the rest of the week off so that Julie could settle into married life.
When the vid-phone began to ring, Kate resisted the urge to pound her head against the desk. It would be useless and just give her a headache. "But," she thought as she prepared to answer the phone, this call could give me just as big a headache. Well, at least it won't give me a bruise."
Before Kate could give a greeting, a man, somewhere in his mid-to-late twenties, dressed in a law enforcement uniform imperiously stated, "I need to speak with Jeff Tracy."
"I'm sorry, he is unavailable at the moment," Kate politely responded. "Maybe I can help, I'm…"
"Listen, sweetie, I need to speak with your boss. I'm sure," his eyes moved up and down suggestively, "that you help him a lot, but I need Mr. Tracy right now."
Anyone who knew Kate Tracy would have known to shut up at that moment. But Deputy Dutton didn't know her…too bad.
"May I ask who is calling?" Kate inquired in a politely chilly tone.
"Deputy Keifer Dutton, Bailey Sheriff's Department. I am the lead deputy on duty."
"He's the only deputy on duty," Dean called out.
Kate leaned her head slightly to the side, giving a small smile that she quickly hid as she saw the Winchester brothers, a frown emerging when she spotted the Sam's untreated head injury. "Sam, what happened?" Kate's frown grew as she focused on Deputy Dutton. "Has he received any medical care?"
Dean's "no" was overridden by Dutton's "Listen, the perps will get care when I get some answers. Is that how they got into properties held by the Tracy family? You their inside source?"
Leaning back in her chair, Kate was prepared to rationally respond and drew in a breath before speaking. Whatever she had to say went out the window when Dutton snapped, "Listen, you may be Mr. Tracy's fun time girl, but this is a criminal investigation. Comprende, sweet thing?"
Kate's eyes narrowed and she leaned forward, anger radiating from her in waves. When she finally spoke, her voice was low and menacing. "You festering pile of dog shit…I would be polite and say feces or excrement, but I doubt your intelligence ratio is high enough for you to comprehend what that means. Now listen and listen to me good. The Winchesters are contract employees who have worked directly for the Tracys before. When their services were required again, they quickly came to where we asked them to go. Sarah Tracy could think of no one she would trust more with this task, which needed to be handled quickly and discretely. Now, I would recommend that you get Sam Winchester some medical attention and I need to know if they require a lawyer. If so, I will contact the attorneys the family has on retainer."
"Lawyer?" Dean called out. "This loser still hasn't even read us our rights."
The men would not have thought it possible, but Kate's eyes narrowed further and her voice now fairly dripped with cold disdain. "You failed to Mirandarize these men? What cracker jack box did you get your badge from? Or was it in the bargain bin at the local Wal-Mart?"
"Listen…" Dutton started, trying to intimidate Kate and reclaim the upper hand, when another voice broke in.
"Mrs. Tracy?" All three men turned at the new voice. A woman, somewhere in her early thirties walked into the Sheriff's Department. Although dressed in jeans and a cotton jersey, the Sheriff's windbreaker she wore identified her clearly.
"Sheriff Landman, nice to see you again," Kate smiled.
The sheriff smiled in return, leaning over the desk before greeting Kate. "Now, I thought I told you, my name is Jean."
"And I told you, my name is Kate. Scott said you were a great friend and was one of the best players on his team when he was in little league. Any friend of my husband is a friend of mine and my friends call me Kate," she laughed before glaring at Dutton again. "Of course, to Deputy Dumbass there, I am Mrs. Tracy."
Jean sighed. "Dutton, what the hell have you pulled now? I thought putting you on the late shift you would cause less trouble. I swear, I don't care if your daddy is the mayor, your ass is so busted if you have caused me any more paperwork."
"He failed to read rights to suspects, he failed to get medical care for an injured suspect, he didn't allow them to call an attorney and he just called me my father-in-law's good time girl."
Closing her eyes, Jean sighed once more. "Dutton, if you were a bigger ass you would be in Congress. You just pissed off the Tracy wife married to the Tracy son who will kick your ass."
"Not if I kick it first," Kate said grimly.
"I'd just shoot him," Dean offered cheerfully, only to exchange concerned looks with his brother when Kate seemed to consider it.
"Maybe," Sam suggested, "if Sarah could explain things for us…"
"Sarah left for the clinic in Akoroa twenty minutes ago. But I can confirm that we are aware that Sarah asked the Winchesters for help. May I ask why they have been taken into custody?"
At the double glares from the women, Dutton stumbled over his words, trying to explain. "I found them in the Woodbury House. They had guns! Shotguns!"
Sam sighed. "We were concerned that some of the damage could be caused by rodents. We work at night, many rodents are predominantly nocturnal. So we carry shotguns with shells loaded with rock salt. It scares the animals, won't hurt people and doesn't damage property."
The Sheriff picked up one of the shotguns on a nearby table, examining it closely after the Winchesters nodded in approval. Checking the weapons and the shells, she shook her head before turning back to the Winchesters. "Boys, as a representative of Bailey, may I offer my most sincere apologies and assure you that not all of the residents are this stupid. I'll call over to the medical clinic and ask Billy to meet you over there. Actually, give me a minute and I will drive you." Turning back to the vid screen, the sheriff shrugged. "Hard to get good help these days, Kate, you know how it is. And Dutton? You go through my drawers again, I will kick your ass and then I will fire said ass, got it? I can't think of how else you got the Tracys' home phone number." Smiling, she gave a small wave at the vid phone. "You give Scotty a kiss for me and tell the others Jeannie Bates said howdy, you hear?"
After Kate cheerfully nodded and agreed, Sheriff Landman turned off the vid phone, shaking her head at her deputy. "Now, Dutton, I have to get my husband out of bed and over to his clinic to check this boy over. He just got to sleep after being up with a colicky baby and he won't be happy. And when he isn't happy, I'm not happy. Why are you making someone who can make your life miserable unhappy? And yes, your daddy is mayor, but he is Billy's uncle and I know he likes me and Billy more than he likes you. You know why? Because you are a dumbass. Now, those reports had best be in order before I get in tomorrow morning or guess who will be working every holiday shift for the rest of his employment with this department?"
The Winchesters, once free of their restraints, followed Sheriff Landman out of the building to her car. As she radioed in a tow for the Impala (to meet them at the medical clinic), Dean whispered to Sam, "I have no idea what they raise the women on around here but I seriously love it. They gotta bottle it. They raise some serious kick-ass broads in these parts!"
A/N - Oh, I can't seriously hurt Sam...Not yet at least. See, the Ghost of Woodbury House (at least that one), was what brought them to Bailey, Kansas (which is a fictional place...Bailey, not Kansas). I am introducing characters who will be involved with the next hunt. Look forward to chaos and mayhem...but it will take a couple of chapters to introduce everyone, so prepare to enjoy some humor and fluff, with a few explinations tossed in.
Take care until later, be kind, rewind...I mean, please review. Thanks! - CC