27
"OK, so I'm going to take more ummm questions." Chuck started, after parking Beth in her stroller at the side of the stage while Abbie salted the doors, trying not to be noticed.
"Umm, why are you doing that?" A fake Abbie asked. "You think there's a real ghost?" She laughed.
"Precaution, that's all."
"You think that crap's real? Come on! I know we're fans and stuff, but hello...reality check. Salting the doors..."
"Reality check?" Abbie raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah, I mean come on, you take this way too seriously, I mean, you even called your kid after the one in the book. Pathetic. And a haunted," She made quote marks with her fingers, "hotel, isn't really the place for a kid."
"Well, maybe I didn't have a choice about bringing her..."
"Even the character in the book wouldn't take Beth with her on hunts, Dean made her quit."
"How do you know? Maybe you should ask Chuck, I mean, Carver, about that? Surely he's already written it."
"It'd be stupid for her to drag Beth along, I mean, Dean would be furious, given the way he told Sam to look out for them, how he grew up with his dad, given how crap that turned out, he'd be turning in his grave."
"Clearly you know everything." Abbie smirked and walked away towards Chuck. "Door's all salted. Shame we need to keep everyone safe." She glared at the fake Abbie, now sitting beside the Hookman.
"Ummm, why?" Chuck asked, noting the glare.
"Because, I'm not good at LARPing, and it'd be stupid of me to bring Beth along to something like this, even if it is fake." She explained, sitting at the side of the stage, checking Beth was still sleeping, "Maybe you could explain to your, sorry, our fans, that sometimes we have no choice, hell I came here for a break, not a freaking hunt."
"OK, I'm sure that'll be covered in the Q and A." Chuck answered, noting fake Abbie waiting desperately to ask her question.
(Outside the main hall)
"Argh!" Dean and Sam heard a scream from upstairs and ran to find the fake Miss Gore, running out of a room. "Don't go in there."
"Get downstairs, ok?" Sam told her.
"Go, go!" Dean told her when she hesitated, "Everyone's in the main hall." Dean ran into the room to be confronted by the ghost of Leticia's son, still wearing his gory wound from his murder.
"Why'd you do that?" He asked Dean, "Why did you send my mommy away?"
Dean was stunned, "Maybe because of the high-and-tight she gave you." He answered. "How about some thanks?" Sam glared at him, "Well, I'm just saying, a little gratitude might be nice once in a while."
"My mommy didn't do this to me." The boy explained.
"What? Well, who did?" Dean asked, confused.
Meanwhile, Fritz, AKA The Hookman, was coming face to face with his own ghosts. The three children from earlier, "How original, Supernatural and more creepy children." He commented, not realising that they were real.
"Miss Gore wouldn't let us have any fun." One of the boys told him.
"You don't even look like real ghosts." Fritz turned away, unimpressed.
"But Miss gore's gone, and now we can have all kinds of fun." They ran towards him, killing him.
(Back in the hall)
"So, where did you get the idea to write in the character of Abbie? Surely having a wife and kid goes against everything Dean is. I mean, he's a ladies man, and to be shackled just seems not him. And to give his kid, the same upbringing he had, it doesn't make sense." Fake Abbie looked at Abbie, who was quietly fuming.
"Ummm, well, Abbie is based on my, uhhh, sister, Amy." He nodded to Abbie, "She helps with the creative process, gives me the female perspective on a lot of things."
"In fact, Chuck, could I perhaps answer on some of these points." Abbie stood up.
"Sure." Chuck nodded, glad to be off the hoook, but nervous about what Abbie could say.
"Dean may have been a ladies man, in the past, maybe Chuck felt it was time to develop the character more, have him settle, have what he always wanted but didn't think he could have." Abbie started, "As for Beth, well, we all see what Dean was like with Sam, who wouldn't want to see that protectiveness and parenting is use on his own child, let's face it, he'd rock at that."
"Yeah, but he's in hell. No doing much parenting from there, is he?" Fake Abbie pointed out.
"Well, didn't you hear Chuck has more written, can you imagine Supernatural without Dean?" Abbie teased, "Maybe you should reserve judgement on Dean and his family until you see how they go with Beth." Abbie paused, "As for Dean giving Beth the same upbringing, when the last book ended, Abbie and Beth were living at Bobby's, permanently. A far cry from the motel after motel, short lease apartment after apartment and downright fatherly neglect that defined Dean's and for that matter, Sam's upbringing. Beth has a home, and a family, and will never learn about killing monsters." Abbie opened her mouth to continue. Chuck held his hand up.
"O...k. I think you covered everything."
"Barely..." Abbie sighed, moving to sit down beside looked up nervously as the Leticia actress walked in, clearly spooked, Abbie saw her too and walked up towards her, "Hey, you ok?"
"It's-it's-" She began to raise her voice, Abbie wrapped an arm around her shoulder and led her to the side of the stage where Beth was.
"I know, I know. Believe me, I understand. But we can't let everyone in here know, 'cause then they'd try and fix it and make it worse, ok?"
"But-"
"Are the guys up there?"
"Guys? You mean the tall guy and the blonde one."
"Yeah, that's them." Abbie nodded.
"Yeah, they sent me down there. I thought this was all fake. Oh my God, they're gonna make the ghost mad!"
"No, they're not, out of all the guys you want to be out there, they're top of the list, they know what they're doing, ok?" The actresss nodded, "Now, can you stay here, make sure that she stays sleeping? I need to see the guys and make sure the salt line is still ok."
"But it's real, you can't-"
"I know what I'm doing, ok? Chuck? I gotta check on the guys, back in a few."
"But, Dean said-"
"It'll be fine, I'm just getting an update." She walked towards the door, only to be met by Sam coming in. "We good to go?"
"Not even close." Sam sighed, "We messed up when we burned Leticia, she didn't kill her son, the other boys did, Letitia's been the only one keeping them under any sort of control, but since we, you know..."
"They're out and they're pissed, and you burnt your only control?" Abbie asked, "Wow, way to mess up. Dean's up there still?"
"Yeah, which is why we need you." Sam turned to the actress.
"Me?" The Leticia actress asked.
"Dean wants you to pretend to be her, get the little monsters under control."
"No way."
"Look, one of us will be there with you, you'll be safe, I promise." Sam told her, "Please."
"You want me to do what? No!"
"They've already killed one guest, you'd be saving lives."
"Killed one?" Abbie asked.
"Yeah, the Hookman." Sam confirmed.
"I'm not doing it." The actress told him, "I work at Hooters in Toledo, I'm not that serious!"
Demian and Barnes had seen Sam coming back in and had joined them, "We want to help."
"Guys, no." Sam told them, "This isn't make believe."
"We know, we're not nuts, in fact we're freaking terrified, but if all these people are in trouble, we gotta do something, right?" Demian continued, "That's what Sam and Dean would do."
"What can I do?" Abbie asked.
"Stay here with Mr Edlund, make sure the little one's ok." Demian answered, while Abbie frowned at him, "You're pregnant and shouldn't be chasing little blood thirsty brats."
"Hate to say it, but you know that's what he'd say." Sam told Abbie, "You and Beth are better off in here."
(Upstairs)
The actress walked into the room to where Dean was waiting for the ghosts to show, while Sam, Demian and Barnes waited downstairs for the doors to open while the boys were distracted by the fake Miss Gore.
"I-I really don't want to do this, maybe that other girl should-"
"No, you're gonna be fine, I'm right here, ok? I'm right here with you." Dean told her, "Ok, curtain up."
"Boys, boys! Come here this instant! Come here when I call you."
"Miss Gore?" The boys appeared in front of them.
"You have been very naughty." She told them, "Open these doors right now!"
Downstairs Demian and Barnes pushed the door open and went in search of the bones of the children, the door slammed closed before Sam could get out.
The actress was about to continue scolding the boys as music started to play. "Dammit." She cursed, it was her cellphone, and the boys knew she was a fake.
Hearing the front door open and close, Abbie ran out, while Chuck kept his audience busy.
"Sam, did it work?"
"I don't think so." He answered, "We're still locked in. Tell Chuck he's gonna need to keep those guys in there longer."
"Longer? How long?" Abbie asked.
"However long it takes." Sam told her, "Get back in there behind the salt line. I need to go help Dean."
Abbie walked back in, "Chuck?" She called him to the side of the stage. "Doors are still locked, we need to keep this going."
"Keep it going, if I answer much more, there won't be any need to buy the books, they'll all know what's happened."
"Either that or let them face ghosts."
"O...k, so we have lots more time for questions." Chuck nervously told the audience.
"Yeah, umm, is there anything between Abbie and Sam? I mean, they're both devastated, are they going to turn to each other?"
"Good question." Chuck glanced at Abbie who was busying herself checking on Beth. "Ummm, I don't know, I mean, uhhhh..." He rubbed at his neck, "I hadn't really considered, ummm, good point, maybe...I don't...uhhh..know."
At that point, the actress ran back into the room, and towards Abbie. "It didn't work!"
"Dammit, stay with Beth. Chuck, check the salt line!"
"Hey, wait!" Chuck ran after Abbie, stopping at the door as she ran out and upstairs. "Dean's gonna kill me." He muttered, fixing the salt line.
"Play time's over boys." Abbie appeared in the room, armed with a rock salt shot gun, but didn't get a chance to use it as it was grabbed from her by one of the ghosts. She found herself cornered by one ghost, seeing Sam and Dean in a similar situation.
"Goddammit Abs!" Dean exclaimed, "You're supposed to be downstairs."
"And you're supposed to be keeping them in check!"
"We're so screwed."
"Look, Demian and Barnes are out doing what we should be."
"You trust them, they nearly threw up doing Miss Gore, you think they'll handle three?" Dean raved.
"They don't have a choice, do they?" Sam mumbled, as the ghosts began to advance on all three of them.
At the graveyard, Demian was struggling to light his lighter to torch the bones, "Dean always gets this thing first time!" He was frustrated with himself, finally he lit it and dropped it in, just as the boys pulled out their knives to kill the three hunters.
"They did it." Dean grinned, "They freaking did it!"
"Thank God." Abbie put her hand to her head where one of the ghosts had succeeded in cutting her.
Dean helped her up, "I don't think you need stitches. Of course you wouldn't need anything if you'd stayed downstairs."
"Oh my God, Beth!" Abbie ran out of the room and headed downstairs to see Chuck cradling a sleeepy Beth.
"Someone's stealing my lime light." He told Abbie, as she took her from him, he seen her injury, "Oh my- are you ok?"
"Fine, Chuck. All bones salted and burned, everyone's good to go."
Dean walked in, relieved to see Beth ok and back with Abbie, he took Beth and let Abbie wheel the stroller out. They were just packing the trunk when Demian and Barnes walked up to them. "We owe you guys, you really saved our bacon." Dean told them, "Thank you."
"You're wrong, you know?" Demian told him. "About the stories, you just don't get it."
"I don't?"
"In real life, I sell stereo equipment, he fixes copiers. But man, to save people, everyday, to have a brother who would die for you, I mean who wouldn't want that. Supernatural changed our lives, brought us together." Demian smiled at Barnes, "And ok, maybe we aren't like Sam and Dean, really, I mean, I'm not looking for an Abbie, we'll probably never have a Beth..."
"You guys do good enough." Dean told him. "Thank you, again."
"No problem." Demian and Barnes walked away, while Sam was caught up being ditched by Becky for Chuck. He got into the car once Beth was strapped in and Abbie was settled beside her, holding some tissue to her head to stop the bleeding.
"So, umm, interesting chat with Becky..."
"Oh yeah, she can string a sentence together around you?" Abbie asked, with a smirk.
"I just got us a lead on the colt."
"The colt?" Dean repeated. "Let's get to a motel, get Beth settled, then you can tell us all about it." Dean started the engine and headed for the motel.
