Disclaimer: Not mine.
Chapter 21
The Impala pulled up in front of Bobby's and they got out, the brothers tensing when a stranger opened the door but Harry smiled and walked over to hug the woman.
"Hey Andy." Harry whispered and she smiled at him.
"Hey yourself Harry. Get inside, you have a godson eager to see you." She told him and Harry grinned, running inside and then coming back out with the baby in his arms.
"Dean, Sam I want you to meet Andromeda Black-Tonks and her grandson, my Godson, Theodore Lupin but we call him Teddy." Harry introduced. Sam moved closer and the baby studied him before his hair and eyes changed to match Sam's making him jump. Harry just chuckled and tickled Teddy. "Good boy Teddy, that was so good." He praised.
"Harry?" Dean asked warily.
"Teddy takes after him Mum, he can alter his appearance but not total mass. Tonks used to amuse us by making her nose look like a pigs or changing her hair to wild colours." Harry explained and Dean walked closer, watching as Teddy's hair lightened to blonde. They got their bags and headed inside, Bobby greeting them.
"Hell's bells, Linus, have you seen my... Who are they?" The Sherriff asked as Sam and Dean stood.
"Federal agents. I, uh..." The poor Deputy stammered.
"And you kept them waiting?"
"You, you said not to disturb."
"Come on back, fellas." The Sherriff offered and they went to follow him into his office but he stopped them. "Shoes off." They did so and then followed him into the office.
Sam & Dean take their shoes off and walk into Sheriff's office. "Al Britton. Good to meet you." He shook their hands.
"You too." Sam offered as they sat down.
"Okay. So, what can I do for uncle Sam?"
"Well, we're looking into the death of Frank O'Brien. We understand some of your men found his body." Sam told him.
"They did. Me and Frank, we were friends. Hell, we were gamecocks." The Sherriff told them and Dean snickered getting a stern look. "That's our softball team's name. They're majestic animals. I knew Frank since high school. To be honest, I just this morning got up the strength to go see him. Frank was...He was a good man."
"Yeah. Big heart." Dean agreed.
"Before he died, did you notice frank acting strange? Maybe scared of something?" Sam asked.
"Oh hell, yeah. Real jumpy."
"You know what scared him?"
"No. Wouldn't answer his phone. Finally, I sent some of my boys over to check on him, and well, you know the rest." He poured even more alcohol gel on his hands and the brothers exchanged confused looks. "So, why the Feds give a crap? You don't really think there's a case here?"
"No, no. It's probably nothing. Just a heart attack." Dean assured him and they left, walking back towards the car. "No way that was a heart attack."
"Definitely no way. Three victims, all with those same red scratches. All went from jittery to terrified to dead within 48 hours."
"Something scared them to death?"
"All right, so what can do that?"
"What can't? Ghosts, vampires, chupacabra? It could be a hundred things."
"Yeah. So, we make a list and start crossing things off."
"Alright, who's the last person to see Frank O'Brien alive?"
"Uh, his neighbour, Mark Hutchins."
"Hang on, hang on." Dean stopped Sam who glanced at him curiously.
"What?"
"I don't like the looks of those teenagers down there." Dean told him and Sam looked around until he spotted the teens near the Impala. "Let's walk this way." Dean crossed the street and Sam watched him, confused by his behaviour.
"So…." Harry trailed off and Andromeda smiled at him.
"It's wonderful Harry, thank you." She told him and Harry grinned, wincing when Teddy yanked on his hair.
"You're family Andy." Harry shrugged, shifting his grip on Teddy before putting the toddler down. Teddy looked around curiously before crawling off to explore. "Already baby proofed and fully furnished, bills come out of an account and everything. Bobby's ten minutes down the road if there's a problem and I'm on the road." Harry explained and she hugged him.
"I should tell you it's too much but I know how much you inherited. I also saw the prophet." She commented and Harry grinned.
"And the dear Minister?"
"Kicked out of office. But a lot of people are calling for your blood for crippling the economy."
"They'll learn, maybe." Harry shrugged it off; he could protect himself easily enough.
Sam paused as he heard music coming from the Impala. He walked over and saw Dean lying out on the front seat. He knocked softly on the window but Dean still jumped a mile. Dean opened the door and held his arm out.
"Dude. Look at this." He revealed the scratches and Sam frowned, kneeling down to gently grasp Dean's arm, terrified for his brother.
"I just talked to Bobby."
"And?" Dean asked, smelling the box of donuts Sam handed over before tossing it into the backseat, confusing Sam since Dean usually loved donuts.
"Um, well, you're not gonna like it."
"What?"
"It's ghost sickness." Sam told him and Dean frowned.
"Ghost sickness?"
"Yeah."
"God, no." Dean breathed.
"Yeah."
"I don't even know what that is."
"Okay. Some cultures believe that certain spirits can infect the living with a disease, which is why they stopped displaying bodies in houses and started taking them off to funeral homes." Sam started to explain.
"Okay, get to the good stuff." Dean urged.
"Symptoms are you get anxious..."
"Yeah."
"Then scared, then really scared, then your heart gives out. Sound familiar?" Sam offered carefully.
"Yeah, but Sam, we haven't seen a ghost in weeks." Dean argued.
"Well, I doubt you caught it from a ghost. Look, once a spirit infects that first person, Ghost sickness can spread like any sickness through a cough, a handshake, whatever. It's like the flu. Now, Frank O'Brien was the first to die, which means he was probably the first infected. Patient zero." Sam explained.
"Our very own outbreak monkey."
"Right. Get this; Frank was in Maumee over the weekend. Softball tournament. Which is where he must have infected the other two victims."
"Were they gamecocks?" Dean asked but Sam shook his head.
"Cornjerkers."
"So, ghosts infected Frank. He passed it on to the other guys and I got it from his corpse?"
"Right."
"So now what, I have 48 hours before I go insane and my heart stops?"
"More like 24." Sam told him and Dean swallowed, looking scared.
"Super."
"Yeah."
"Well, why me? Why not you? I mean, you got hit with the spleen juice." Dean asked, voice raising in pitch and Sam tightened his grip on Dean's arm, letting him know he wasn't alone.
"Yeah, um, you see Bobby and I have a theory about that too. Turns out all three victims shared a certain, uh, personality type. Frank was a bully. The other two victims, one was a vice principal, the other was a bouncer."
"Okay."
"Basically, they were all dicks." Sam offered and Dean frowned at him.
"So you're saying I'm a dick?" Dean asked in disbelief.
"No, no, no. It's not just that. All three victims used fear as a weapon, and now this disease is just returning the favour." Sam rushed to explain, things had been getting a lot better between them since Harry had yelled at Castiel, he didn't want Dean to think that Sam thought he was a dick.
"I don't scare people." Dean argued and Sam rolled his eyes.
"Dean, all we do is scare people."
"Okay, well then, you're a dick too." Dean told him and Sam smiled slightly.
"Apparently, I'm not."
"Whatever. How do we stop it?"
"We gank the ghost that started all this. We do that, the disease should clear up."
"You thinking Frank's wife?" Dean asked quietly and Sam nodded.
"Who knows why she killed herself, you know? Hey, what are you doing waiting out here, anyway?"
"Our room's on the fourth floor." Dean answered, looking up at the building and Sam frowned. "It's...it's high." He whispered and Sam closed his eyes.
"I'll see if I can move us down to the first." Sam assured him, standing up.
"Thanks."
"Sure." Sam headed into the motel while Dean lay back down, glancing at the donuts.
"Bobby?" Harry asked as he let the hunter into the house.
"You might wanna join your cousins." Bobby told him and Harry paled.
"What's wrong?" He demanded, going to gather his things.
"It's Dean, he caught Ghost Sickness. He….only has a few hours left." Bobby answered and Harry stared at him before grabbing a few more things and vanishing.
Dean screamed and jumped as Harry appeared in their room and harry stared at him with wide eyes.
"Sorry Dean, I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Harry asked and Dean watched him warily. "Dean?"
"I…yeah, I'm okay." Dean answered, still panting for breath. Harry cautiously moved closer, gently scanning Dean with magic.
"Where's Sam?" Harry asked, gently pushing Dean over to the couch. Dean just shrugged and sat down. He watched Harry as the wizard went through his bags.
"Why are you here?" Dean asked and Harry looked up at him.
"Because you're dying." Harry stated flatly and Dean frowned.
"What?"
"You're dying Dean, I am the Master of Death so I figured I should be here, rip your soul out myself." Harry smirked, his ring glowing.
"No, no." Dean whimpered.
"Dean, Dean snap out of it." Harry called and Dean gasped, staring at the wizard kneeling in front of him, staring at him in concern.
"H…harry?"
"Yeah Dean, I'm here, you're gonna be okay big cousin." Harry assured him and Dean slumped, this was real, this was his cousin. "You're hallucinating." Harry stated and Dean nodded. Harry spun around, ready to defend Dean, as the door opened but relaxed when Sam walked in.
"I looked everywhere for you, Dean. How the hell did you get here?" Sam asked. "Harry what?"
"Bobby told me so I'm here to help."
"Ran. What do we do now? I got less than four hours on the clock. I'm gonna die, Sammy." Dean answered Sam looking at him and Harry noticed the slightly distant look was back. Dean was hallucinating again, great.
"Yeah, you are. You're going back." Sam agreed with Dean.
"Back?"
"Downstairs Dean, hell. It's about damn time, too. Truth is," Sam turned to face Dean, his eyes yellow, "You've been a real pain in my ass." Sam gestured and Dean was pinned to the wall.
"No! You get out of my brother, you evil son of a bitch!" Dean yelled, struggling.
"No one's possessing me, Dean. This is what I'm going to become. This is what I want to become. There's nothing you can do about it." Sam told him, smirking as he choked Dean. "Hey, hey, hey, Dean. Hey, Dean. Dean. Dean." Sam called, shaking him slightly and Dean gasped, clinging to Sam's arm, seeing the sheer concern in the normal hazel eyes.
"Sammy?"
"Yeah Dean, I'm here." Sam promised.
"He's hallucinating pretty frequently." Harry commented, moving to help Sam get Dean over to the bed.
"Bobby's on the way. Harry can you?"
"I'll stay with him; you do what you have to."
"It's okay Dean, you're gonna be okay. Come on look at me." Harry called softly and Dean whimpered, eyes darting around. Harry took a deep breath and focused his magic, not on the 'disease' but on Dean's heart, trying to slow the beats. He was not letting Dean die.
"You're not real!" Dean called out and Harry gently wiped his face with a cool cloth. Dean started gasping, his heart going crazy and Harry readied himself, to catch Dean's soul if he died. He was not losing his cousin again. Dean suddenly gasped and then…..he slumped on the bed, panting, his eyes clear and the fever gone. "Harry?" he croaked and Harry offered him some water.
"You're okay Dean, it's over." Harry promised and Dean nodded.
"So you guys road-hauled a ghost with a chain?" Harry asked in disbelief and Sam grinned.
"Iron chain etched with spell work."
"Hmm, that's a new one." Dean nodded.
"It was what he was most afraid of. It was pretty brutal, though."
"On the upside, I'm still alive, so uh, go team!"
"Yeah. How you feeling, by the way?" Sam asked and Dean shrugged.
"Fine."
"You sure, Dean? 'Cause this line of work can get awful scary." Bobby offered and Dean glared.
"I'm fine. You want to go hunting? I'll hunt. I'll kill anything."
"Awwww, he's adorable. I got to get out of here. You boys drive safe." Bobby teased.
"You too, Bobby. Hey, thanks." Sam told him and the hunter nodded.
"I'd offer you a lift but you can beat me back." Bobby told Harry who nodded.
"Andy and Teddy are fine; I'm going to stay anyway." He told Bobby who got in his car and drove off.
"So uh...so, what did you see? Near the end, I mean." Sam asked Dean.
"Oh, besides a cop beating my ass?" Dean offered and harry winced, he should not have gone to the bathroom while Dean was so sick.
"Seriously." Sam told him and Dean glanced at him, seeing a flash of yellow in his eyes.
"Howler monkeys. Whole roomful of them. Those things creep the hell out of me." Dean answered and Harry frowned, why was Dean lying?
"Right." Sam stated flatly and Dean sighed, taking a drink of his coke.
"No, just the usual stuff, Sammy. Nothing I can't handle." Dean assured them
TBC….