Ch 25
"So Bobby, all that stuff with your wife actually happen?" Dean asked Bobby, who was wide awake now but still confined to a hospital bed.
"Everybody got into huntin' somehow," the older hunter replied, "Thank you for savin' me. If it weren't for you, Dean, I'd still be stuck in there or dead." Dean smiled slightly at the praise and shuffled through the papers that littered Bobby's bedside table.
"Hey Bobby, how are you feeling?" River and Sam returned each holding cups of hospital coffee and passed them to Dean and Bobby.
"Just fine, sweetheart, just fine." Bobby smiled at her as she gave him a quick squeeze.
"So, stoner boy wasn't in his dorm. Probably already skipped town." Sam said, sitting at the edge of Bobby's bed.
"He's hardly a stoner. Name's Jeremy Frost, IQ 160, full on genius. That's saying something since his dear old day took a baseball bat to his head when he was seven, gave Jeremy Charcot-Wilbrand. Hasn't dreamed since. Here's father of the year; died when Jeremy was ten," Bobby said handing Sam a color copy of the man's drivers license.
Sam gazed at the photo and handed it to River, "Looks like a great guy," she said dryly.
"So Jeremy hadn't dreamed 'till he started dosing with the dream root." Dean said, "Hey, how'd he know how to dig up your worst nightmare and use it against you?"
"I don't know, he was rooting around in my skull and dug something up," Bobby replied.
"Yeah, but how'd he get in there in the first place?" Sam asked.
"Wouldn't he need some of your hair or DNA or something?" River asked as she sat in the chair next to Dean.
"Yeah before I knew it was him, he offered me a beer. I drank it…Dumbest friggin' thing." Bobby spat disgustedly.
Dean shifted in his seat and scrunched up his face, "Oh, I don't know. It wasn't that dumb."
Sam looked at his brother in exasperation, "Dean you didn't?"
"I was thirsty…" he lamely answered.
River whipped her head towards him, "Really, Dean! I'm the prime fucking example of why you don't take drinks from strangers and you took a drink from Freddy Krueger?"
"This is great now he can come after either one of you!" Sam exploded. River got up from her chair with sigh and headed towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Dean called.
"We have to find him before he gets in your god damn head, Dean," she called over her shoulder.
"She's right, we gotta work fast and coffee up because the one thing we can not do is fall asleep." Bobby said.
Sam and Dean followed River out of the hospital and back to the Impala. "Lets go back to his dorm, see if anyone knows where he might be," Sam said.
"No friends, no job. He's kind of a weirdo, who'd a thought? The RA let me into his dorm room though," River told the brothers as she slid into the car.
"He let you in? I had to pick the lock," Sam turned around and looked at River where she sat in the backseat.
"I told him Jeremy and I hooked up and he kept my underwear like a creeper and I wanted it back and presto instant access. Anyways, found a receipt to a strip club "Foxy Loxies" and his neighbor told me Jeremy was kind of stalking a waitress at a cafe near campus."
"We'll take the strip club, you get the waitress," Dean told her.
"Wow, never saw that assignment coming," River said rolling her eyes at Sam. "The cafe is closed today, so I can go tomorrow. Maybe we can check out the campus library, see if we can get into his email account, maybe he's got an internship or a T.A position somewhere." After a few hours at the library, Sam hacked into Jeremy's school and private emails which gave them a few more potential leads while River asked around if anyone had seen Jeremy. With no solid info the boys dropped River off at the motel so she could try a tracking spell and they left to check out the other leads.
Two days later Sam and Dean were still following any potential trail of Jeremy, Dean living off of coffee and becoming more surly by the hour. "Hey, Sam, you get anything at the doctors office?" River called Sam, the brothers hadn't returned to their motel room all night and had been checking in infrequently.
"No, dead end. How about you?" Sam replied.
"Yeah, talked to the waitress, her names Janessa. Took a little bit but she told me she went out on a few dates with Jeremy but broke it off before it got too serious. But, umm she's been having trouble sleeping lately. Having scary, hyperreal dreams about Jeremy. Violent, sexual dreams that she's having a hard time waking up from…," River told him.
"Jesus," Sam muttered.
"Oh and Bela called Bobby, said she'll help us try and track Jeremy. She's got a fancy tarot card set and a spirit board we can try," River said, "You guys coming back to the motel tonight?" Sam told her they were headed back to the strip club and didn't know when they'd be back.
Bela showed up to Bobby's room a few hours later and she and River attempted to use the Spirit Board to locate Jeremy. "Nothing but gibberish," River scooted away from the table in disgust. Her tracking spells hadn't worked either and Bela wasn't getting any straight answers from her tarot cards. River sighed and called Dean to check in, "Hey, hot stuff how are you doing?"
"I'm doing fan-fucking-tastic, River. You just call to chit chat or you have some useful info?" Dean almost yelled into the phone.
"Simmer down, princess. I'm on your side remember?"
"Can it! Did you use one of your fancy ass witch spells to find this asshat or what?"
"No, they're not working. I don't know why, maybe because his physical body is in one spot but his spirit is somewhere else?"
"Well, thats just great River your about as useful as an extra hole in my fucking head!" Dean yelled into the phone and hung up on her.
River pulled the phone away from her ear and glared at it, "Asshole. Alright, Bobby. I'm done. I'm going back to my room, I'll look through my books and see if I can find anything else." River left Bobby and Bela in his motel room.
Bobby turned to Bela as she shuffled her tarot cards and began another round. "Why are you helping us, Bela?" he asked.
She looked up at him in surprise, "Bobby, I'm surprised you don't remember. Flagstaff?" Bobby looked at her for a moment, "Flagstaff?"
"You want me to drive, Dean?" Sam asked concerned, "You seem a little…caffeinated."
"Thanks for the news flash Edison!" Dean yelled at him, "Where the hell is this guy he isn't a friggin' ghost!"
River called Sam as she walked back her room, "Hey, how's he doing?" Sam looked across the seat at his older brother, "Pretty sure he's about five minutes from a complete freak out."
"Who is that, who are you talking to?" River heard Dean yell at Sam.
"Tell him to come back to the motel and we'll figure something else out," she said.
"Wait, Dean what are you doing? He's pulling over, I'll call you back later," Sam abruptly ended the call.
"Well, thats just great."she muttered unlocking the door to her room.
"That's it. I'm done," Dean pulled the Impala off the road and parked it in a wooded area.
"What are you doing?" Sam asked as Dean slunk down in his seat.
"Takin' myself a long over due nap." Dean said as he laid his head back and closed his eyes.
"Wait, what? Jeremy can come after you," Sam said exasperated.
"That's the idea. We can't find him, so let him come to me."
"On his own turf where he's basically a god?"
"Yup. I can handle it."
"Well, I'm coming with you." Sam said as he pulled a few hairs out of the top of Dean's head.
"No you're not!" Dean yelped in surprise and then checked his vibrating phone, "She doesn't take a hint." He said turning his phone off.
Sam did the same with his, "She's worried about you. You basically benched her back at the motel with Bobby and Bela."
Dean ignored him and tried to find a comfortable position. "I don't want you digging around in my head," Dean glared at his younger brother.
"Too bad, I'm coming and at least this way it's two against one." Sam quickly mixed his Dean-dream root and drank it. Dean had already laid his head back again and was starting to softly snore.
"Son of a bitch voicemail…" River angrily slammed her phone down on the dining table, paced a few times then picked it back up. She pounded call back and waited for Dean's phone to ring, "Hi this is Dean's other phone. You know what to do."
"Listen, asshole. You want me to leave, I got it. Theres a bus tomorrow morning to Cali. But could you just have some basic decency to let me know you two are alive that'd be great," she hung up the phone and tried Sam's number. She didn't leave a voicemail for him instead she texted him a string of glaring red angry emojis. River set her phone back down on the table and decided to taking a shower would be more productive then worrying about the Winchesters.
Sam sat up groggily from where he was laying, head leaned against the passenger door of Baby. "Dean?…Dean," he looked across the seat at his older brother who still completely out and drooling. Sam reached over and smacked his brothers arm causing Dean to jolt awake,
"Hmmm…what are we still doin' here?" Dean glanced around confused.
"I have no idea," Sam answered. The sound of twigs cracking and rustling leaves pulled the brothers attention, "There's someone out there," he whispered.
The two got out of the Impala and started walking around. Music drifted out of the woods, "So please, please, please let me, let me, let me, get what I want this time". Dean turned towards the music and a room appeared. River looked up and smiled at him, her hair down in messy waves, wearing nothing but one of Dean's button up flannels and lace black underwear. Sam looked over at his brother, eyebrows raised.
"Oh this is a good one," Dean said smiling.
"Hey baby," River said, walking over to Dean.
The flannel shirt unbuttoned and just covering her breasts, Dean ran his tongue over his bottom lip before biting it, "Hey yourself." River ran her hands under Deans shirt and lightly dragged her nails over his chest, "That was a rough hunt." Her hands dropped to his belt buckle where she started expertly loosening it, "You wanna forget about it for a while?" she said snaking her hand inside Dean's boxers. Dean leaned his back and groaned at Rivers touch.
"Dude!" Sam said rolling his eyes, dream River made no inclination she saw or heard him. River seemed to skip forward in time as if someone was fast forwarding Dean's dream. In the next instance she was looking up at Dean, head tilted and moving in for a kiss. Dean reached down and pulled her possessively towards him, hungrily kissing her. God she felt so real, he thought. He pulled away from the kiss and River smiled at him again.
"I love you, Dean," she said before she faded away.
Dean stood there for a moment then looked over at his younger brother, "She's…she's never said that before."
"Where'd she go?" Dean asked as River and the room disappeared.
Sam quickly looked around and saw a shadowy figure standing in the trees behind them, "Dean, this way!" Sam took off running and Dean followed after him. The trees seemed to grow thicker as Dean tried to follow his brother but within an instant Sam was out of sight. The trees seem to shrink and blend before Dean's eyes; he blinked and the forest turned to wallpaper and he was now standing in a long dark hallway. "Ok," he muttered to himself and walked cautiously down the hallway. A door at the end of the hallway unlatched and swung open as Dean walked towards it. Inside a figure sat at a desk in the corner clicking the light on and off as Dean took a tentative step forward. "Jeremy?" Dean called. The figure stopped clicking the light and turned in the chair to face Dean. Dean drew in a sharp breath and smiled mirthlessly as he stared at his double, "Well, aren't you a handsome son of a bitch?"
Dean's double reflected his smile, "Hey, Dean we need to talk."
"Alright I get it, I'm my own worst nightmare. Very original, kind of like Luke facing off against himself in that swamp," Dean grumbled to his double. Dean and his twin started slowly circling each other.
"Joke all you want smart ass," the other Dean told him, "But you can't lie to me. I know the truth, I know how dead you are inside. How worthless you feel. How you look into a mirror and hate what you see."
Dean's jaw clenched for a fraction of a second before he regained his composure and smiled again, "Look pal, this isn't going to work on me."
"Sure it is. I'm you. I know how crazy you are for that red head, how badly you want her and yet you're doing your damnedest to make her hate you. Hate you like you know we deserve." The double smirked at Dean.
Dean paused his pacing and clenched his fists, "You're not me. And I'm in control here, I snap my fingers and your gone." Dean snapped his fingers once, twice and a third time.
His double tilted his head and frowned, "I'm not going anywhere and like I said we need to talk." The double lifted a sawed off shotgun and causally braced it on his shoulder.
River was just getting out of the shower when she heard her phone ring, she quickly wrapped the towel around her self and ran to answer the call. She glanced at the caller ID "Dean's other other number" and furrowed her eyebrows, "Hello?"
"Hey, I didn't think you'd answer," Dean's gravelly voice echoed back.
"I probably shouldn't have. Are you OK?" she answered.
"Yeah we got everything taken care of."
"I thought you lost this phone," River said.
"Yeah I though so too but I found it under the front seat, exactly where you said it'd be," Dean laughed on the other side.
"Ok, well good to know you made it out of dream land alive…see you later I guess." River said getting ready to disconnect the call.
"No, wait Riv. Can we just talk for a while, can I come by your room when me and Sammy get back?"
"You want to come to my room? And talk?" she was getting annoyed, "After weeks of silent treatment and avoiding me at all costs if we aren't hunting, you wanna talk?"
"Yeah, come on. What room are you staying in?"
River took a deep breath, "113."
"Alright, see you soon." Dean ended the call. River quickly got dressed in pair of yoga pants and a loose fitting t-shirt and waited for Dean to show up. She didn't have to wait long as there was a quick knock at the door less than half an hour later.