AJay131: Thank you so much for the review! I don't get a lot for this story and so I wonder if people actually like it, but your comment really warmed my heart :):)
DPOV
Now out of the uniform and back in my normal clothes, I walked around the bank with Ron, moving into an office. "Check behind the desk." I told him as I headed for a door to another office.
I made it one, maybe two steps in, before I heard Ron slip on something. Rushing back in, I found him on the floor by a pile of shape-shifter skin.
He screamed and yelled, scrambling back. "What the hell is that?"
"Oh, great." sighing, I crouched down by the mess. "When it changes form, it sheds its old skin, so now it could be anybody."
"It's so weird." he picked a piece up, sniffing it. "It's robot skin is so lifelike."
"Okay, let's get something straight." I started, my patience gone. "It's not a mandroid. It's a shapeshifter."
"Shapeshifter?"
"Yeah." I gave a short nod. "It's human, more or less. Has human drives. In this case, it's money. But it generates its own skin. They can shape it to match someone else's features. Tall or short, male-"
"So it kills someone and takes their place?"
"Kills or doesn't, I don't think it matters." I answered as I started to search the desk.
"What are you doing?"
Picking up a letter opener, I looked it over and found an engraving that let me know it was made from silver. "Nice. You remember the old werewolf stories? Pretty much came from these guys. Silver is the only thing I've seen that hurts them." I told him, starting for the door. "Come on, Ronald."
...
As we walked through the halls of the bank, the sound of Ron chuckling had me stop and turn to him. "Are you nuts?"
He shook his head. "That's just it. I'm not nuts. I mean, I was so scared that I was losing my marbles. But this is real. I mean, I was right. Except for the mandroid thing. Thank you."
"Yeah, don't mention it." I continued for the vault again.
That's when the power shut off and the emergency light flicked on.
"Damn it. No, no, no."
"What? What is it?"
"They cut the power. It's their way of saying hi." I explained.
"Who?"
"The cops."
"The cops?"
"You weren't exactly a smooth criminal about this. You didn't even secure the security guard. He probably called them."
"I didn't think to-"
"Hang on, hang on, hang on. Let's just take a breath for a second, all right?" I sighed, looking to the high windows. "They probably got us surrounded. They cut the power to the cameras. No way of telling who the shape-shifter it. It's not looking good, Ron."
The last thing we needed was the cops to figure out Sam and I were here. I was still wanted for murder.
Liz was fine, as far as we knew. No one had seen her with us, so she was safe. But Sam? Everyone knew he was my brother, and never too far from me. So if either one of us were caught, things would not end well.
An unknown sound come from somewhere in the bank that wasn't by the vault.
I turned back to Ron again. "Did you here that?"
EPOV
"Has your brother always been so, um, wonderful?" Sherri- the woman who'd first started talking once we were locked up- hadn't stopped talking. It was irritating the hell out of me. "I mean, staring down that gun. And the way he played into that psycho's crazy head, telling him what he wanted to hear? He's like a real hero or something."
"Yeah." Sam smiled, entertaining her just to keep her calm. "Yeah."
The door began to open.
Sherri's face lit up at the sight of Dean. "Oh, my God. You saved us! You saved us!"
"Actually, I just found a few more." Dean shrugged. The gun in his hand did not go unnoticed. "Come on, everybody, let's go. Let's go." he ushered more people into the vault.
"What are you doing?"
Ignoring Sherri, Dean nodded to Sam and I. "Ronald and I need to talk to you two."
"Sure." I couldn't help a small grin slip on to my lips. The look on Sherri's face was enough for me to feel ten times better about the situation.
Walking out of the vault, right behind Sam, my eyes locked on to Dean.
After listening to Sherri go on and on. After watching him flirt with woman after woman. With every one-night stand he and I had with other people. After the taste I'd gotten a few weeks ago. After the frustrating attraction I'd been fighting off for months. I made a conscious decision right then and there. I wanted him and I was going to have him.
...
"It shed its skin again. We don't know when. It could be in the halls, could be in the vault." Dean explained, and urgency in his voice.
"Great." Sam sighed. "You know, Dean, you are wanted by the police."
Dean grinned as if he were impressed or amused by that fact. "Yeah."
Sam shook his head. "So even if we find the damn thing, how the hell are we gonna get out of here?"
Dean's grin fell. "One problem at a time. All right, Liz and I will do a sweep of the whole place, find any stragglers. Once we get everyone together, we play a little game of Find the Freaks. So here." he pulled out two silver letter openers. "I found these for the two of you."
I shook my head, reaching into my bra and pulling out my own silver blade. "I'm already covered."
"You sneaky..." Dean was amused, a smirk playing on his lips. "That's why you threatened the guy who frisked you."
"No. I threatened him because I didn't want to be groped." I corrected him.
Turning back to Sam, he got back to business. "Now stay here, make sure Ronald doesn't hurt anybody. Help him manage the situation."
"Help him manage?" Sam was not happy. "Are you insane?"
Dean gave Ron two thumbs up to let him know everything was okay before he spoke to Sam again, his voice hushed. "Look, I know this isn't going the way we wanted."
"Understatement!"
"But if we let the cops in now, Ronald gets arrested, we get arrested." Dean gestured to himself and Sam. "The shifter gets away. Probably never find it again, okay?"
Instead of responding, Sam gestured to Ron.
Dean and I turned, seeing Ronald standing in the light coming in from outside.
"Ron." Dean called, getting his attention. "Out of the light."
"Seriously?" I'll repeat... Sam was not happy.
Shaking my head, I stepped forward. "Okay, so his plan wasn't the best. It's insane. But right now, it's what we've got to work with. So, please, just keep everyone safe and alive."
Looking from Dean to me, Sam slowly nodded. "Fine."
"All right. Let's go." Dean nudged me.
Before walking off, I offered Sam and gentle smile. "Thank you." as I began to follow Dean, I gave Ron and small wave- which he blushed at- before my attention was focused on the task at hand.
DPOV
Walking through the halls, Liz and I stayed out of the light, sticking the walls and shadows when we could, searching for any more people, while also looking for the shifter.
"Stay close."
"Sing me a new song." Liz rolled her eyes at me.
If someone asked me why I took her with me and not Sam, I would probably tell them it's because I knew Ron would be more cautious with someone he doesn't like and Sam would be able to handle any problem. But in reality, I knew things would have been fine if it was Liz watching the vault.
Truth is, I just enjoyed her company. Comments like that amused me. She laughed at most of my jokes. She was one surprise after another. She was a great hunter- one of the few Sam and I could actually work with.
Then there was the look she'd given me when she exited the vault. It was like something had clicked. She went from looking at me with slight uncertainty, to looking at me with determination. I wasn't sure what that meant, but I wanted to find out.
SPOV
I pulled open the vault door. "I'm gonna keep this open, get you folks some fresh air in there, all right. But no one leaves the vault."
As I finished my sentence, a phone began to ring.
"I don't understand." Sherri stepped up. "Why are you helping him?"
I gave her a short shrug. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Hello?" Ron answered the phone.
"I think I gotta get out of here." an elderly man spoke up from inside the vault. It was the security guard.
Shaking my head, I stood my ground. "Sir, I'm sorry but you gotta stay put."
"What? What do you mean, demands?" Ronald was speaking to the cops. Great.
"Ronald. Hang up."
"I'm not a bank robber."
The old man spoke again. "I gotta get out of here."
"Sir, you can't leave." I told him."
Ron wasn't hanging up the damn phone. "I'm a crime fighter, I guess."
"Ronald!" I snapped, patience running thin. This whole situation was getting out of hand fast.
He continued to ignore me. "No, I'm acting alone."
That's it. I stepped up to the phone and hung it up. "Ronald? The less the cops know, the better."
"Hey, I think this dude's having a heart attack." someone called form inside the vault.
"Great." I sighed. "Could be our guy, could be a trick."
"Are you just gonna let the man die?" the same person called again.
"No one's dying in here." I countered, snapping more than I probably should have. "Cover the door." I ordered Ron before picking up the phone and dialing the police.
Once I told them I was in the bank and needed to speak with an officer, they put me through to a guy. He'd been talking to Ron, so figured I wasn't a 'robber' and started asking me questions in the hopes I would help him.
"Can you tell me how many hostages this guys got?"
"Look, one could be having heart trouble. You need to send in a paramedic."
"Just stay calm, we'll have you out-"
"Just send in a paramedic, okay? Don't try anything else." I snapped, quickly adding, "Please." then I hung up.
"Paramedic?" the guy form inside the vault, helping the old man, spoke up again. "Guy don't have time, man."
"Listen, I'm sorry. Okay? I am." Ron started. "But nobody's getting out."
The man just shook his head at Ronald. "He's dying right in front of you!"
EPOV
Dean and I had searched nearly all the rooms, when he noticed something was wrong with the ceiling in one of them. One of the squares was out of place...
"Here, hold this." he handed me the torch. Grabbing a coat stand that sat in the corner, he then pushed it against the square.
I stepped a little closer, shining the torch into the small space he'd created, trying to see what was inside. It was a mistake I regret making.
With a harder push and shove, Dean moved something inside the roof which then fell through, landing on top of me, hard and heavy. I fell to the ground, the weight of whatever it was knocking my feet from under me.
"What the-" I cut myself short as I looked at the body on top of me. "Get it off!"
Dean acted quickly, lifting the body and rolling it off me. As he did, he rolled it so its face was up, revealing someone I recognised. This guy was naked, his throat cut, but I had no doubt in my mind that I'd seen him before, which meant we now knew who the shifter was.
"Dean... This guy is in the vault."
DPOV
I headed for while Liz walked up to the vault to make sure the guy was still in there.
"Hey, what's up?" Sam asked, confused. The look my face must have told him something was up.
"We found a body." I looked past Liz and Ronald, my eyes landing on the shifter. "It's the guy with the guard."
Sam nodded, turning to Ron. "You know, Ronald, he's right. We gotta get this man outside. Come on." he walked into the vault, grabbing the old man.
"Yeah, I'll help." the shifter offered.
Sam just shook his head. "Oh, I got him. It's cool. Thanks." he helped the old man out, heading for the bank's exit.
I stepped up to Liz, both of us standing in the vault doorway. "Hey, can we talk to you for a second?" I asked the shifter, needing to draw it out.
It scoffed. "You got the gun, man. I mean, whatever." it joined us out of the vault.
The next thing I knew, it lashed out at me, knocking the gun from my hand. It pushed Liz away, knocking her against the wall, and kicked me against the vault door. Then it was off, running away.
"Stop, come back here!" Ron ran after the shifter.
"Dean." Liz scrambled to her feet, offering me a hand. "Come on, we gotta go."
Once I was standing again, we hurried to catch up, needing to get to the shifter before it changes again. Things were already bad enough with the body count piling up. Any more dead people, and this was not going to end well. The cops thought I was a murdered, they probably start think Sam is too.
As we ran into the main room of the bank, we came to a stop as everything happened at once.
"Get down, now!" Sam yelled.
The sound of a gunshot went off.
Ron fell to the ground.
I grabbed Liz, pushing her into the corner and on the ground, behind a counter, keeping myself in front of her protectively as Ron bled to death right in front of us.
"Oh, my God." Liz was shaking.
"Don't look." I turned to her. "Elizabeth." I cupped her cheek, turning her face to look at me. "Don't look, okay. Just look at me."
She may be a hunter. She may have seen some horrible things, done some pretty messed up stuff herself. But reality could sometimes be more frightening than the crap we dealt with. Someone getting shot- a human getting shot by another human... It was like a slap to the face with ice-cold water. It made you realize how easy it is to actually die.
Sam came over to us, staying low and out of the light. "Here." he handed me the key to Ron's lock and chain on the front door. "Take care of the guard. I'm going after the shifter." he was gone before I could stop him.
Looking over my shoulder, my eyes landed on Ron before I turned back to Liz. "Stay here. I'll be right back." the moment she nodded, I headed over to Ronald's body, staying low and behind anything that would keep me out of the light. "Sorry, Ron. You did a real good job tracking this thing. You really did." reaching over, I grabbed his dropped gun before leaving him there.
...
"This will all be over soon." I assured the guard as I lead him to the door of the bank. "Everything's gonna be all right."
I could see lights flashing outside, police cars, the light of a helicopter... They had the whole shebang out for us.
As the old man pushed the door open, he called out to the cops. "Hey, don't shoot! Don't shoot, please."
As the officers cocked their guns, I pressed my gun against the old man's back. "No, no, no. Back up. Don't even think about it."
"Please don't shoot." the guard raised his hands.
Looking around now, I could see more. I could see the full extent of the trouble we were in.
More police than I could count. News reporters and civilians behind the police tape, a safe distance away. Cameras flashing, people yelling. Guns, riot gear. Snipers and S.W.A.T. It was worse than I first thought.
"Son of a bitch..."
Some officers started to move in, pulling my attention to them.
"I said get back, now!" I pushed at the old me. "Okay. Go, go."
The moment he was gone, I stepped back inside, closing the door behind me before rushing to close and chain up the next door.
"We are so screwed."
EPOV
Dean came rushing over to where I was still sitting in a corner. My shock was basically gone, I could have moved. But he'd told me to stay, so I had.
He held his phone to his ear. "What?" he paused before sighing, running a hand over his face. "God, it's like playing a shell game. It could be anybody, again."
"Dean?"
He looked down at me, getting to his knees as he continued to talk into the phone. "All right, you search every inch of this place. Liz and I will round everybody up." he said before hanging up the phone and turning to me. "Everyone got out of the vault, the shifter changed again, and I'm pretty sure my face is now all over the news."
"Shit."
He nodded. "Yeah, things aren't looking too good." his face softened slightly as he looked me over. "How about you? You okay?"
"I'm fine."
"You don't have to-"
"I said, I'm fine, Dean." I insisted, getting to my feet. "Now, let's go. We've got work to do."
DPOV
Liz ushered the hostages back into the vault. "Everything's gonna be all right. This will all be over soon." she assured them as a phone began to ring.
I stepped up to it, answering it cautiously. "Yeah."
"This is Special Agent Victor Henriksen."
"Yeah, listen, I'm not really in the negotiating mood right now." I told him as Liz closed the vault door.
"Good, me neither. It's my job to bring you in. Alive's a bonus, but not necessary."
"Whoa, that's kinda harsh for a federal agent, don't you think?"
"Well, you're not the typical suspect, are you, Dean?" I froze as he went on. "I want you and Sam out here, unarmed. Or we come in. And yes, I know about Sam too. Bonnie to your Clyde."
I collected myself, trying to play it cool. "Yeah, well, that part's true. But how'd you even know we were here?"
"Go screw yourself. That's how I knew. It's become my job to know about you, Dean. I've been looking for you for weeks now. I know about the murder in St. Louis, the Houdini act you pulled in Baltimore. I know about the desecrations, the thefts. I know about you dad." that struck a nerve.
"You don't know crap about my dad."
"Ex-Marine, raised his kids on the road. Cheap motels, backwoods cabins. Real paramilitary survivalist type. I just can't get a handle on what type of whacko he was. White supremacist, Timmy McVaigh, tomato, tom-ar-to."
"You got no right talking about my dad like that." there was a grin on my face, but I was not amused. "He was a hero."
"Yeah. Right. Sure sounds like it. You have one hour to make a decision or we come through those doors, full automatic." he didn't wait for a response before hanging up.
I slammed the phone back into place.
"Dean?" turning to Liz I could see the concern in her eyes as she stepped closer to me. "Who was it? What did they say?"
All I could do was shake my head and sigh. "I am so screwed, Liz."
EPOV
"We got a bit of a problem outside." Dean spoke. I turned to see that he was talking to Sam, who'd just entered the room.
"We got a problem in here." Sam gestured to the vault door. "The shifter, it turned into Sherri. I found her body."
This piqued my interest. "Sherri? The woman who'd been going on about Dean?"
Sam simply nodded.
Not needing anything else said, I turned and opened the door to the vault. "Sherri? We're gonna let you go."
She looked at me confused. "What? Why me?"
"As a show of good faith to the feds." Dean answered from behind me. "Come on."
But she didn't move. Her eyes landed on the gun in Dean's hand and the silver blade sticking out of my pocket. "Ah... I think I'd rather stay here with the others." she stepped further into the vault.
I wasn't going to take no for an answer. "It's not an option, sweetheart."
Hesitating a moment longer, she eventually nodded and moved towards Dean and me. Once she was out, we closed the door to the vault, and grabbed her, following Sam as he led us to the body.
...
Sherri struggled against Dean's hold. "I thought you were letting me go."
Instead of answering, Dean turned her so she could face the body identical to hers which lay on the floor of an office dead.
After a moment, the fact she was looking at a dead body that looked like her seemed to register. She began to scream and struggle more, unable to look away from the body but desperately wanting to.
"Is that community theater or are you naturally like this?" Dean asked her, letting her arm go seeing as I stood in front of the only exit out of the room.
Sam pulled out the silver letter opener Dean had given him. "This is the last time you become anybody. Ever." he told her as he lifted his hand to stab her.
"No. Oh, God." she let out a sigh and fell.
"What the...?" I looked down at her confused.
Dean shrugged, looking from the dead Sherri to the unconscious one. Making up his mind, her crouched down by the unconscious one and lifted his own letter opener, ready to kill.
"Dean, wait." Sam stopped him. "What's the advantage of this plan? I mean, fainting now wouldn't help it survive." he had a good point.
Turning away from the fainted Sherri, Dean looked to the 'dead' Sherri. "Huh..." getting up, her moved over to the 'dead' Sherri and knelt by her.
A crash caught his and Sam's attention, causing them to look away, but I kept my attention on the body by Dean. That's when I could see it's chest moving ever so slightly. It was breathing.
"Dean!" I hurried over, pushing him out of the way just as the shifter went to grab him. As a result, it grabbed me instead, it's hand wrapping around my throat.
At the same time, the real Sherri woke up and began to scream. "Oh, God! Oh, God!"
Sam tried to deal with Sherri, while Dean moved to help me with the shifter. It threw me away and turned to him, grabbing his wrist before he could stab it. It kicked at him and rolled them over so it was on top.
Getting to my feet, I pulled out my blade and reached for the shifter's hair, pulling it back and lining up the point of my weapon to its throat. I was about an inch from getting it, when the thing turned, pushed me to the ground, and smashed my head against the ground all in a matter of seconds. Neither Dean or I had a chance to react.
Then it was up, making a break for it.
DPOV
Liz and I were looking for the shifter, sticking together as we walked around the bank. The thing could be anywhere. Hell, it could be anyone. It was fast, and strong. Things weren't looking too good.
The sound of someone heading our way had me look down a hall in time to see the ends of guns about to round the corner. The cops were inside.
Grabbing Liz, I rushed us to the next corner and pushed us behind it, using my body to cover hers as I listened out for the feds as they got closer.
Leaning closer, Liz whispered in my ear. "Follow me." she pulled me back and slipped her hand in mine before dashing into the shadows, taking us away from the cops.
Once we were at a safe distance, we slowed our pace a little, her hand slipping out of mine as we continued our search. Though now that we knew the feds were inside, we were going to have to be more careful.
"We should split up." she suggested.
I didn't even have to think about it. "No." reaching for a storage room door, I took a look inside. "This thing is strong, and fast. It'll be better if-"
The sound of a grunt had me turn to see Liz and the shifter fighting, and it wasn't looking good.
I jumped in, the two of us circling the shifter, throwing a punch when we could, trying to keep it on its toes to find an opening. The thing kicked out at Liz, pushed her against the wall. It took this as my chance and went to make a move.
As I went to punch it, it grabbed my arm, locking it between its side and arm as it's other hand went from my throat. I head-butted it a few times, keeping it at bay until it stumbled back and into Liz.
Liz was ready. She put the thing in a head lock before reaching around and stabbing it in the chest with her blade. Letting it go, she stepped away as the shifter's body fell to the ground, dead.
"Wow..." I looked her up and down.
She was a little out of breath as she wiped some sweat from her forehead. "Impressed?"
Grinning, I gave her a short nod. "You could say that."
"Like I've told you a million times, Winchester, I'm perfectly capable." reaching down, she pulled her blade out of the shifter's chest.
A flashlight turned on, aimed at us.
Liz and I both turned, ready to fight if we had to. But instead of a fed standing behind us, it was Sam... Dressed in a SWAT uniform while carrying two others on his shoulder.
"Here." he tossed the spare uniforms on the ground in front of us. "You're gonna need these."
EPOV
I slid into the back of the Impala, pulling of the SWAT helmet and mask I'd put on, dumping them on the floor by my feet. My body ached, my mind was reeling. I was covered in sweat. I hadn't slept since we started this case.
But despite all that, I was completely aware of the trouble we were now in. The feds had been after Dean before, now they were after Sam. It would only be a matter of time before they'd come looking for me too...
Dean shook his head. "We are so screwed."
Bamby